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ADVENTURES 
IN THE GREAT DESERTS 


r* 


ADVENTURES 


IN 

THE GREAT DESERTS 


ROMANTIC INCIDENTS ^ PERILS 
OF TRAVEL, SPORT AND EXPLORATION 
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD 


BY 

H. W. G. HYRST 

AUTHOR OF ‘‘CHAS.VJA,” UTC, 



WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS 


PHILADELPHIA 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

LONDON: SEELEY ^ CO. LIMITED 





I 

Q..I 


I 



PREFACE 


Though the experiences of almost all the twenty-four 
travellers and explorers whose adventures fill the fol¬ 
lowing pages fall within the last hundred years, their 
journeys were undertaken at a time when scientific 
development had not yet made travelling compara¬ 
tively easy. There were more romantic possibilities 
in a world which had no railways across Canada or 
Siberia, and had not even dreamed of an iron road 
from Cairo to the Cape. The decay of Indian tribes 
and the reclamation of deserts had not yet made 
travel less exciting, and adventurers were not yet 
armed with modern weapons of precision. The narra¬ 
tives of these explorers have consequently something 
of an old-world flavour, and though their times are 
not remote, they have a touch of romance about them 
which is scarcely to be looked for in travels of the 
present day, while their perils and escapes are not less 
exciting than the very well-known adventures of more 
recent travellers. 


PREFACE 


Deserts are here taken to mean waterless places, and 
the ice-wastes of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, 
though commonly included among the deserts of the 
world, are of so different a character that it has been 
thought best not to touch upon them in the present 
volume. 


VI 



CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I 

IN A DESERT OF PRECIOUS STONE 

PAGES 

James Bruce, the father of modern African exploration—The 
Thebaid Desert—A loyal servant—“ The most barren 
mountain region in the world ”—Wells of bitter water— 
Bruce’s “ fellow-countrymen ”—An antelope hunt—Com¬ 
motion in the camp—The thief—Sidi Hassan’s message 
and the reply to it—A critical situation—A Scotchman and 
an Atouni against two dozen Arabs—Bruce’s method of 
bringing the enemy to reason—Jasper and porphyry— 

Sad news of Abdel Gin—Bruce’s heroic venture—Timely 
and unlooked-for aid—Ibrahim—The last of Sidi Hassan 1-17 

CHAPTER II 

WITH HUMBOLDT ON THE LLANOS 

The llanos—Humboldt and Bonpland—A blow from behind— 

A death-struggle with a Zambo—A red fog—The earth¬ 
quake—The eclipse—The meteor shower—Crossing the 
desert—A jaguar and several monkeys—The guide’s 
lesson in zoology—Taking the wrong direction—A two 
days’ hunt for the right one—An interrupted swim—Lost 
again 18-30 


CHAPTER III 

IN THE COLORADO DESERT 

American exploration—The Lewis-Clarke expedition—The 
Platte River—A hunt—The hunters hunted—Racing for 
dear life—“ Prepare to receive buffaloes !”—A new battle 

vii 


CONTENTS 

PAGES 

' —The wolves—A gallant resistance—Enemies turned allies 

—The Indian ambassadors—The conference—A rebuke— 

The prairie-fire—A mother’s presence of mind—The 
“ great medicine ”—The sergeant alarmed—The aurora 
borealis—Winter in the desert—Famine—The sand-clouds 
—Discovery of the Missouri Rapids—Indian spies— 
(Getting ready for the enemy—The storm—The alarm— 

The battle—Turning the tables on the savages—Victory 31-46 

CHAPTER IV 

A STATUE AT THEBES 

The Young Memnon—Giovanni Belzoni—Introduction to 
Mehemet Ali and Burckhardt—Up the Nile to Luxor— 

The artful Cacheff—Difficulties thrown in the way—The 
labourers—The help of the Evil One—A lesson in dynamics 
—Getting out of the Memnonium—Fever—Desertion of 
the labourers—Fight with the Albanian foreman—More 
difficulties—The Kamsin—The Piedmontese expedition— 
Jealousy — The attempted assassination — Belzoni the 
conqueror—The embarkation .... 47-57 

CHAPTER V 

CHASED BY BEDAWIN 

The Holy Land—Dr. Clarke’s expedition—Nazareth—The 
Druses — The wilderness — Arab inquisitiveness — A 
timorous escort—The poHte guard—Alone in a perilous 
pass—The Bedawin—Flight and pursuit—A mad ride— 

A respite—Followed by increased danger—Without hope 
—The saving bullet—The traitor still at large—Clarke’s 
disciphnary measures, and their unfortunate result— 
Culverhouse again to the rescue—Suspense—The enemy 
thrown—Not safe yet—Mutiny—How Bertocino saved 
the party 58-72 


CHAPTER VI 

WITH A PILGRIM CARAVAN 

A Mohammedan pilgrimage—Sir R. K. Porter, artist and 
traveller—A caravanserai and its inmates—The pilgrim 
viii 


CONTENTS 

PAGES 

band and the loafers—The artist’s attempt at escape— 

A hot morning in the desert—Another caravanserai —The 
chawosh —His proposal and conversation—Through the 
enemy’s country—The attack—Behaviour of the chawosh 
and pilgrims—Dispersal of the enemy—Kerbela and the 
shrine of Houssein . . . . . 73-85 


CHAPTER VII 

IN THE REGION OF DEATH 

The Thar —Colonel Tod—A terrible descent—Carey’s fate— 

Lost—The native soldiers—Good news—Alive again !—A 
native squabble—Frost—The see-kote —Accident to Cap¬ 
tain Waugh—A magnanimous tiger and his nephews— 
Cholera !—Treachery—The bear-hunt—Saved hy a native 
—Another accident to the Colonel - - - 86-99 


CHAPTER VIII 

A RIDE TO BOKHARA 

William Moorcroft, the first Englishman to cross the Hima¬ 
layas—A five years’ journey—A visit from the robbers— 

How to deal with spies—The alarm—Preparing for attack 
—The plot and the counterplot—Fate of the second 
spy—A terrible night-watch—To arms !—Capture of the 
robber chief—The Pass of Ah Masjid—Dismissal of the 
guides—The storm, and Moorcroft’s escape—Desertions at 
Cabul—Arrested at Kunduz—Moorcroft’s successful ruse 
—Izzet Ullah gives up—The pass carpeted with jewels— 

The frozen desert—The desert of Turkestan—A village 
of dead men—The Kirghiz—A delusion - - 100-114 


CHAPTER IX 

A SLAVE RAID IN THE SAHARA 

The Denham-Clapperton expedition—An African merchant- 
prince—Sahara tribes—Result of a sand-storm—The 
Tibboos at the oasis—Robberies and reprisals—Dis¬ 
covery of Lake Tchad—Escort or custody ?—Kuka—The 

ix 


CONTENTS 

PAGES 

Sultan of Bornu—Diplomacy and music—Boo Kiialloom’s 
raid—The Fellata—The battle in the desert—An un¬ 
expected reverse—Heroism of Major Denham—Fighting 
for life—The end of the battle—Death of Boo Khalloom— 
Another campaign—Fireworks—Sad news—The expedi¬ 
tion abandoned - - - - - 115-127 


CHAPTER X 

IN A PERSIAN DESERT 

George Keppel, Earl of Albemarle—Overland from India— 

The muleteer’s warning—The three Bedawin—“ Peace !” 

—Mountain scenery—A desert of stones—The caravan¬ 
serai and its host—Robbers—The Shurgee—A false 
alarm—Ruins of Kisra Shereen—The real attack— 
Narrow escape of Lieutenant Hamilton - - 128-138 

CHAPTER XI 

PRISONERS IN THE CASPIAN DESERT 

The Turanian desert—Lieutenant Conolly—Syud Karaumut 
Allee—Perwullee—A Turcoman’s idea of water and of 
horse-rearing—Break-down of the camels—A Russian 
spy !—The mirage—Four mysterious horsemen—A Turco 
pipe—Treachery and betrayal—Taken to the camp—The 
baggage “ inspected ”—Abdullah’s dismal tidings—The 
Syud angry—Carried coastwards—When rogues fall 
out! - .139-152 


CHAPTER XII 

AMONG TURCOMAN BRIGANDS 

Sir Alexander Burnes—Successful entry into Bokhara— 
Journey thence—The desert of the Oxus—A returning 
caravan, and a warning—The usual false alarm—The 
Persian prisoners—The Turco slave-traffic—Intolerable 
heat—Refuge among honest Turcomans—More warnings 
as to the “ Allamans ”—A whirlwind and a mirage— 

Offers of shelter—The real robbers—Getting out of the 
difficulty—The real Allamans—A tarantula—Possessed by 
“ Shaitan ” - - - - . . 153-163 

X 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER XIII 

ACROSS THE PAMPAS 

The Hon. Peter Campbell Scarlett—From Buenos Ayres to 
Valparaiso—The Argentine horse—The hospitable post¬ 
hut— Mate —Short of water—Another hut— Ki llin g the 
supper, and getting nearly killed in so doing—A faithful 
guide and a lasso—Mosquitoes—Thistles ten feet high— 
South American deserts—The biscacha and his ways—At¬ 
tacked by the teru-tero —“ Indians !”—The gaucho garrison 
—Mistaken—Cheering information!—The heat—The pam¬ 
pero —Gauchos and cattle-taming—The Andes ?—A swarm 
of benchucas —Dangers of dreaming in the desert - 164-180 

CHAPTER XIV 

A MAMELUKE ESCORT 

Major Sir Grenville Temple—Tunis—First experiences of 
Arab hospitahty — The Tunisian desert — Incidents — 
Unpopularity of the guard — Reasons therefor — The 
horse-stealer—Arab pets—A Tunisian town—Reception 
accorded to the Mamelukes—The fight - - 181-189 

CHAPTER XV 

IN THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DESERT 

Thirst!—Dew gathering—Digging for water and fife, with the 
thermometer at 130° F. in the shade—Caprices of Austra¬ 
lian temperature—The overseer’s fruitless mission—His 
notions of husbanding supphes—Hunger and horse-beef— 

The sting-ray—The guides disappear, but return hungry— 

A night alarm—Treachery, murder, and desertion—Alone 
in the desert !—Eyre’s narrow escape—Pursued by the 
mutineers—Horse-beef diet again—Wyhe’s notions of a 
square meal—Making for the coast—A sail! - 190-206 

CHAPTER XVI 

THE AFRICAN LION HUNTER 

The Kalahari Desert—Roualeyn Gordon Gumming, “ the 
African lion-hunter ”—The Boers, hospitable and other- 


XI 


CONTENTS 


PAGES 


wise—Gemsbok shooting—Hottentot industry—Lost— 

The great thirst—Dreams—A mirage—The lost Kaffir 
found—RebelHon and desertion—Fight with a lion— 
Locusts—On the Kalahari—Chased by a rhinoceros— 
Another mutiny—Steering by the stars—Birds as water- 
finders—How Gumming shot his fiftieth elephant—Battle 
with a boa-constrictor .... 207-221 


CHAPTER XVII 

INTO THE FORBIDDEN CITY 

The first Europeans to enter Lhassa—“The land of grass”— 

A Tartar caravanserai —The disguise—Its effect on 
Chinese mules—Tartar hospitahty—The steppes of Ordos 
—The storm—Abandoning hope—Hue’s discovery—A 
real haven of refuge—The great caravan—“ The poetry 
of the journey,” and the subsequent prose—Crossing 
the poisonous mountain—A fine of dead men’s bones— 
Illness of Gabet—Parting with the caravan—^Forty 
deaths from cold—The Kolos—Fallen among brigands— 
Despair of the party—Rescued by Samdadchiemba— 
Gabet restored to health—The great plateau—Summer at 
last—Another alarm—Change of diet—The desert fire— 

Hue averts a massacre—Lha Ssa, the Land of Spirits 222-242 


CHAPTER XVIII 

FIVE YEARS IN THE SIBERIAN DESERT 

Thomas Witlam Atkinson — A romantic career — Forty 
thousand miles of Asiatic travel—The Steppes—The 
swamp—Prisoners—A horrible prospect—Out of the 
mire—The Steppes in fine weather—A “ hand-to-hand ” 
struggle with an eagle—Mysterious terror of the horses— 

A storm—A whirlwind—Towards the Gobi Desert—The 
camp of the Kirghiz—Inculcating temperance principles 
—The night alarm—The invasion—The robbers put to 
flight—The chase—Atkinson in a new role - - 243-257 


Xll 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER XIX 

A EIDE TO BAALBEC 

PAOES 

Rear-Admiral Allen—A new route to India—Allen’s scheme— 
Be 3 n*out—The Zahle Pass—Order, and disorder, of the 
march—Panic !—Facing the inevitable—The bloodless 
battle—The Bashi-Bazouks—Towards Baalbec—The 

voice from the depths of the ruin—Awful predicament of 
Louis Calmeyn—The Dead Sea—Deacon’s narrow escape 
—A mirage ?—The clergyman’s obstinacy—A real oasis— 

A civihzed Arab — Desert hospitality, and the cost 
thereof ...... 258-270 


CHAPTER XX 

IN THE DESERT OF SAHARA 

Richardson, Barth, and Overweg—Region covered by the 
expedition—Barth’s search for the “ enchanted moun¬ 
tain ”—Bad desert diet—The Valley of the Shadow of 
Death—Alone in the desert of Fezzan—Rays of hope— 
Despair and delirium—Dying of thirst—The watch-fire— 

Still no hope—The cry of the camel—The Moor—The 
rescue—The oasis of Ghat—The desert tribes—Terrible 
situation of the explorers—Robbed—Separation—Death 
of Richardson and Overweg ... - 271-282 


CHAPTER XXI 

A SLEDGE RIDE IN SIBERIA 

k pleasure trip round the world—From the Baltic to the Sea 
of Okhotsk by land—The steppe of Baraba—A winter 
ride towards Lake Baikal—A sani —Travelhng com¬ 
panions more or less objectionable—The tea-caravan— 

The Russian courier and his methods of persuasion— 

The right of way—A smooth interval—A mad riae, 
and an overturned sledge—A perilous night ride— 
Thrown over the cliff—Help at hand—Another fall— 

The men with the lantern .... 283-291 

xiii 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER XXII 

SNAKES AND INDIANS IN UTAH 

PAGES 

Julius Brenchley and Jules Remy—“ Obstinate as a mule ”— 

The shanty and the “ Sandwich Islanders ”—Climbing 
the Sierra—The mountain-hut: a ghastly scene—Water, 
but no drink—The desert, and the first night there—A 
bear, a snake, and an Indian—Visitors, and how to get 
rid of them—Remy left alone—Three days of torture— 
Despair—A friendly voice in the dark—Hope—The fleeing 
emigrants—“ ’Ware Indians !”—Tracked—The ambush— 
Attack, charge, and repulse—The Mormons—The mirage 
—The woods—Surprised and captured by redskins—A 
friend in need . . . . . 292—309 


CHAPTER XXIII 

burton’s march to TANGANYIKA 

Sir Richard Burton, K.C.M.G.—The Tanganyika expedition— 

A halt at Bomani—The “ three starts ”—Advantage of 
being a linguist—The brave Baloch—A short way with 
loiterers—A wooded desert—A night of thirst—The Afri¬ 
can ass—Thieves—Temptation to go back—Small-pox— 

An inspection of kit leads to mutiny—Threatening the 
wrong man—Burton’s notion of “ taking back his words ” 

—Desertion and return of the escort—Stopped by 
savages—Ants and wild bees—Crocodiles and cannibals— 
Fighting for a servant’s life—The Captain’s report of his 
escort310-325 


CHAPTER XXIV 

THE ARABIAN DESERT 

William Gifford Palgrave—The Syrian doctor—A dangerous 
recognition—The simocn—Riad and the Wahabis—A 
distinguished patient and a royal scientist—The Arab 
horse—A visit from the mob—Abd Allah’s enmity—A 
perilous interview—Escape—An anxious three days— 
Camel or dromedary ?—A desert fog—Wells—The Dahna 
—Locusts—Rivalry between the guides—Dispute among 
the guides 320-341 


XIV 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


A FIGHT WITH A WOUNDED EAGLE - 
SHORT SHRIFT - . . . 

AN INTERRUPTED BATHE 
BISON ATTACKED BY WOLVES 
AN ANXIOUS MOMENT 

A SAVING BULLET - - - . 

A CARAVAN ATTACKED BY ARABS - 
COLONEL TOD WAS PARALYZED WITH HORROR 
A CRITICAL MOMENT- 

THE SAND-STORM NEARLY BURIED THEM 

THE DISADVANTAGE OF A MAMELUKE ESCORT 

ATTACKED BY A LION 

SAMDADCHIEMBA TO THE RESCUE 

AN AWKWARD PREDICAMENT 

JUST IN TIME ... - 

A SPILL IN THE SNOW 


Frontispiece 
To face p. ^ 


36 

56 

67 


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84 


90 




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106 
116 
188 
214 ' 
237 ^ 
264 ^ 
278 '■ 
286 


XV 



ADVENTURES 
IN THE GREAT DESERTS 

CHAPTER I 

IN A DESERT OF PRECIOUS STONE ” 

James Bruce, the father of modern African exploration — The 
Thebaid Desert—A loyal servant—“ The most barren moun¬ 
tain region in the world”—Wells of bitter water—Bruce’s 
“ fellow-countrymen ”—An antelope hunt—Commotion in the 
camp—The thief—Sidi Hassan’s message and the reply to it— 
A critical situation—A Scotchman and an Atouni against two 
dozen Arabs—Bruce’s method of bringing the enemy to reason 
—Jasper and porphyry—Sad news of Abdel Gin—Heroic 
venture—Timely and unlooked-for aid—Ibrahim—The last of 
Sidi Hassan. 

The father of modern African exploration—the great 
forerunner of Speke, Burton, Baker, and Stanley—was 
the heroic Scotch traveller James Bruce, who, towards 
the close of the eighteenth century, set out southwards 
from Cairo in search of the sources of the Nile. 

At that time no European, except the French 
traveller Poncet and some Franciscan missionaries 
had attempted the journey across the Thebaid desert 
for nearly two centuries. 


A 


JAMES BRUCE 


During a long residence in Spain, and a two years’ 
consulship at Algiers, Bruce had made a thorough 
study both of medicine and the Arabic tongue, and 
so was well qualified for the character which he chose 
to assume on entering Egypt—that of a travelling 
English physician. 

Well aware of the dangers to be encountered in the 
long march to Cosseir, on the Red Sea, he was careful 
to take with him four janizaries (or Turkish soldiers) 
and a dozen body-servants and camel-drivers; and even 
this retinue seemed so inadequate that, on entering 
the desert, he joined forces with an Egyptian caravan 
which was guarded by two hundred mounted men— 
all cowards, and most of them thieves. 

While in Cairo, Bruce had estabhshed a wide medical 
reputation, and, by his personal dignity and simple, 
manly kindness, had won the respect and affection of 
all classes—a condition of affairs which was to be 
of service to him before the close of his desert journey. 
In fact, he had gone but a few miles before an Arab 
came riding after him in great haste—one Mahomet 
•Abdel Gin, a former servant of his, who came pleading 
to be allowed to continue his attendance on the 
“ doctor.” The man’s services were not to be 
despised, for he was famihar with the Cosseir route, 
and his fidelity was unquestionable ; and Bruce gladly 
put him in command of the newly-recruited staff. 

A long day’s march brought them to what Bruce 
describes as the loneliest region of Africa. All round 
lay a desolate plain, its flatness just refieved by here 
and there a sand-hillock, and, less than twenty miles 
2 


WELLS OF BITTER WATER 


forward, “ the most barren mountain region in the 
world.” Nowhere was there a trace of life, animal or 
vegetable, not a blade of grass, not so much as a serpent 
or ostrich—and no water, brackish or other ; and' the 
atmosphere so dry and heated that two sticks, being 
rubbed together, ignited in half a minute. This was 
no place for tired men and thirsty camels to stay at, 
and the caravan moved on till nightfall brought it to 
a couple of wells, near which the tents were pitched. 

The wells, on examination, proved to contain water 
that was too bitter to drink, though this caused no 
great alarm, as the supply brought from the river was 
still abundant and good. But another source of 
apprehension attached to the neighbourhood, for scouts 
and returning caravans reported that over three 
hundred Arab freebooters of the Atouni tribe—the 
fiercest and bravest of the desert clans—lay in wait 
beyond the wells. 

Bruce paid httle heed to the rumour, beyond men¬ 
tioning it to Abdel Gin, himself one of the Atouni, 
and therefore the hereditary enemy of the caravan 
Arabs, all of whom belonged to the Abade tribe. 
The servant laughed loudly on hearing the news. 

“ It may be so,” he said. “ We take toll of the 
caravans just as the Abade do—when they dare, 
which only happens when they are fifty to one. Be 
advised by me. If the caravan be attacked, all these 
guards will run away, and the dealers will allow them¬ 
selves to be robbed without a protest. But you—do 
not fire on the Atouni; let me talk to them, and I will 
answer for the safety of your life and goods.” 

3 A 2 


BRUCE’S - FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN 


The conversation was interrupted by a stir in the 
camp caused by the arrival of about twenty Turks, 
who, with half a dozen servants, were also on the way 
to Cosseir. These, after some conversation with one 
of the traders, made direct for Bruce’s tent, hailing 
him loudly and gleefully “ as English, and therefore 
their fellow-countryman /” Flocking round the huge 
Scotchman—he stood six feet four, and was pro¬ 
portionately broad—they louted low before him, and 
claimed him as their chief and protector. 

“ Compatriots of mine ? I shouldn’t have recog¬ 
nised you,” said Bruce, much amused, as he surveyed 
the quaintly-clad, amply-breeched little men. 

But they would have it so, and volunteered the 
further information that they hailed from Caz Dagli, 
a district of Asia Minor, whereupon the explorer 
bethought him that the Turks of that country maintain 
that the English race had its origin there, and that 
they generally claim brotherhood on that account, 
especially if they themselves happen to be in need of 
help. The new-comers added that they had much 
wealth with them, and implored Bruce to take charge 
of their money-bags, on which the caravan leader had 
already cast a greedy eye, and were delighted when 
permission was granted to them to chain the bags 
to the pole of the tent occupied by their “ com¬ 
patriot’s ” servants. 

Early in the forenoon of the next day the first of 
the mountains seen on the previous evening was 
reached. The surface was a curious patchwork of 
green and red, and the sand at its foot had a dis- 

4 



GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 


tinctly purple shade. Leaving the main body, Bruce 
went over to inspect, and found that the surrounding 
rocks were of porphyry—unmixed with any other 
stone—of the kind known to sculptors as rosso antico, 
and the mountain, as he drew nearer, proved to be of 
the most brilliant purple—one huge mass of the stone 
he had hitherto regarded as scarce and precious. 
Under his feet the sand seemed to move in a slight 
upheaval, and on inquiring into this phenomenon he 
found that animal life was not quite so extinct in this 
wild but beautiful spot as he had imagined, for the 
moving sand-grains were ants, whose bodies were of 
the same gorgeous hue as the ground on which they 
lived. 

Frightened screams from the front of the caravan 
broke off his investigations, and gave him an example 
of what might be expected of the valour of the Arab 
guards. Prepared for at least an invasion, though 
the invaders were at present strangely invisible, he 
rode forward, only to discover that the alarm was 
caused by three or four desert loiterers, who had 
attempted to cut the baggage-cord of one of the 
outermost camels. These gentry Bruce summarily 
put to flight with a few blows of his riding-whip. 

During the next day’s advance various kinds of 
valuable stone came into view, and, in the course of an 
hour or two, the doctor distinguished no less than 
twelve different kinds of rare marble, besides granite 
and porphyry in abundance. But of more interest 
to the travellers as a whole was the sight of an oasis, 
upon which they came suddenly at the end of one of 

5 


AN ANTELOPE HUNT 


the valleys, finding there pools of drinkable water, the 
first they had met with since leaving the Nile. 

When tents were pitched, Bruce took his gun and 
crossed the oasis in search of game, for recent abstinence 
from fresh meat made him hunger for a meal off one 
of the antelopes said to haunt the pools at evening. 
Concealing himself between two rocks, he had not long 
to wait. A stately antelope came into view down the 
pass that ran at right angles to the line between the 
hunter and the water. At fifty yards he halted, and 
looked round questioningly, as though he scented a 
foe, then moved on again, this time very slowly and 
with the utmost caution. Behind him, carelessly and 
at their ease, came four females, evidently firmly 
confident in their leader. 

At thirty odd yards the latter once more stopped, 
sniffed, and, raising his head, looked from right to left 
of him. It was a tempting sight to a sportsman who 
had not fired a shot for several weeks—the magnificent 
creature standing there, his head erect, his elegant 
limbs and well-rounded body standing out in the 
twilight against the darker background of rock. Bruce 
fired : the beautiful animal leapt six feet into the air, 
and fell dead, while his followers turned and fled pell- 
mell up the pass again, leaving behind, however, one 
of their number, which fell a victim to the doctor’s 
second barrel. 

How to get the game back to the tent was a problem 
—solved by some of the caravan slaves, who, in return 
for Bruce’s helping them to fill their water-skins, under¬ 
took to deliver the carcasses to Abdel Gin. After 

6 


COMMOTION IN THE CAMP 


leaving the pools, Bruce idly wandered about in the 
moonlight till near midnight, when hunger bade him 
return in search of antelope-steak. 

Much to his surprise, an unwonted number of lights 
shone out from his portion of the camp, which was a 
furlong away from that of the main body ; and, as he 
approached his tent, he heard the click of a gun- 
hammer, and a voice ordered him to stop and give the 
password. The word agreed upon was “ Charlotte.” 
He gave it, and moved on, to find all the Turks, with 
loaded guns, solemnly marching round and round his 
and the servants’ tents. 

Before he could inquire into this unusual illumina¬ 
tion and display of vigilance, two Arabs came over 
to him, saying that Sidi Hassan—the Egyptian 
caravan leader—had given orders for the doctor to 
go to him on the instant. Unsuspecting, Bruce threw 
down his gun and was about to obey the summons, 
when Abdel Gin ran out of his tent, and whispered to 
his master : 

“ Do not go ; first hear what we, your servants, 
have to say.” 

“ Tell Sidi Hassan that my hour for visiting is not 
midnight,” said Bruce, dismissing the Arabs and 
sitting down by the fire, at which his supper had been 
prepared; and, while he ate, Abdel Gin became com¬ 
municative. 

He said that while he cooked the victuals he had left 
a servant in the larger tent to watch over the valuables, 
which were, according to custom, chained to the pole. 
The man had fallen asleep, and was eventually roused 

7 


THE THIEF 


by the noise made by two of the servants of Sidi 
Hassan, who were trying to cut the chain that secured 
the baggage. The alarm was given, and the thieves 
made off—one of them having the ill-luck to run 
straight into the arms of Abdel Gin. 

The Turks, enraged at the attempt on their property, 
would speedily have hacked the prisoner to pieces 
with their scimitars, but the trusty henchman had 
forbidden this, well knowing that his master always 
avoided extreme measures. After some dispute, he 
had so far given way as to hand the luckless man 
over to the untender mercies of the camel-drivers, 
who had beaten him with their sticks till he could not 
stir or speak. 

Bruce saw that this event would make it necessary 
for him to sever his connection with the caravan, for 
Sidi Hassan had from the beginning shown himself 
jealous and insolent, and would of a surety lay the 
blame upon him, probably seeking reprisals by means 
of poison or the assassin’s dagger. Calling the Turks, 
janizaries, and servants, to him round the fire, he told 
them of his determination, and was gratified with the 
promises of loyalty which his remarks called forth. 

Suddenly deliberations were disturbed by the' 
advance of a dozen Arabs, whom the firelight showed 
to be armed with guns. 

“ Stay where you are!” cried Bruce, standing up, 
and cocking a pistol. “ I’ve got a bullet for the man 
who comes a step nearer. By the way, had you come 
to arrest me ?” 

There was a general laugh from his own men, for all 
8 


SIDI HASSAN’S MESSAGE 


knew that the Scot’s cool courage and immense mus¬ 
cular strength would safeguard him against any dozen 
of the caravan Arabs. 

A muttered colloquy ensued between the new 
arrivals, and then their leader announced that they 
had brought a message from Sidi Hassan. 

“ Very well,” replied Bruce ; “ two of you come 
over to my tent. My janizaries will see that the rest 
of you stop where you are.” 

With some hesitation two men came forward, and 
Bruce followed them into the tent. Their message 
was to the effect that the doctor’s men had killed one 
of Sidi Hassan’s servants ; and they were to demand 
that the culprits should be immediately given up to 
them, and that Bruce should proceed to the leader’s 
tent to see justice done upon the delinquents. 

“ Dehnquents ?” said the doctor. “ My people 
have their orders, and would neither kill anyone 
in my absence nor suffer thieves to plunder my 
property. You say that one of your friends is dead ; 
so much the better for him. But tell Sidi Hassan 
that I expect his accomplice to be given up to me. I 
will meet your master in the morning and hear what 
excuses he has to offer for his conduct. And now ” 
—Bruce looked significantly towards the door—“ clear 
out! I want to go to bed. Any of you seen near 
my tent before dayhght will be instantly shot.” 

When Abdel Gin aroused his master at dawn, the 
caravan was ready to start, and general commotion 
was in progress, owing to a second report that the 
Atouni were lying in wait not far away to “ take 

9 


BRUCE’S REPLY TO SIDI HASSAN 


toll.” Bruce went outside, and saw that Sidi Hassan, 
at the head of a hundred mounted men, had stationed 
himself about sixty yards from the tent. 

The moment the doctor showed himself, one of the 
guards galloped up to him with the order to present 
himself before the leader, taking with him not more 
than two servants. 

“ Tell Sidi Hassan to go and bury himself,” was the 
contemptuous reply. “ I’ll meet him man to man, or 
ten to twenty, or twenty to a hundred, if he likes, 
but not three to a hundred.” And Bruce sat down 
to- his coffee, while the guard rode away with an 
injured air. 

Presently he returned, saying that his master had 
only wished to consult the doctor about plans for the 
day’s march, and to put him on his guard against the 
Atouni. 

“ I am on my guard,” replied Bruce, “ against thieves 
of any description. Tell Sidi Hassan that I draw no 
distinction between an Atouni rogue and an Egyptian 
one.” 

There was renewed hesitation in the enemy’s camp ; 
then the caravan leader, accompanied by only a couple 
of dozen men, rode forward to within thirty yards of 
the tent, where all stopped and dismounted. Again 
the former messenger returned, this time to say : 

“ Sidi Hassan bids me tell you that, as the morning 
is cold, he would be grateful for a cup of your coffee.” 

Accompanied by Abdel Gin and the coffee-pot, 
Bruce walked leisurely across to meet his visitor, 
who, in a haughty tone, began by demanding to know 
10 



A CRITICAL SITUATION 


how the Britisher had dared to neglect his various 
summonses. 

“ Dared said Bruce contemptuously, looking the 
speaker up and down from top to toe. 

“ You have done amiss,” said Sidi Hassan angrily. 
“ You were wrong to protect those Turkish strangers, 
whose practice it is to deprive our people of their 
dues.” 

“ I suppose what you call ‘ collecting dues ’ is what 
in my country we should call ‘ tent-robbing,’ ” re¬ 
marked Bruce, with irritating calmness. 

“ All my people are justly incensed at the ill- 
treatment of my servant,” continued the caravan 
leader ; “ and it is only with difficulty that I restrain 
them from falling upon and slaying the whole of you.” 

“ What !” roared the giant, looking scornfully 
round on the guards, who were trying hard to appear 
dangerous. “ Do you utter your fool’s boasts to 
me ? Your lantern-jawed, chicken-hearted pack of 
rogues are afraid of the morning chill. How will they 
face my brave janizaries ? A score of them would 
run away from my Atouni servant, were he armed 
only with a tent-stake.” 

Sidi Hassan’s eyes fell before the Scotchman’s 
threatening stare, but one of his bolder followers said 
aloud : 

“ Were ever such words heard before ? Is this 
physician a king, that he presumes to talk thus ?” 

Bruce saw that the time for action had come, for 
already there was a movement among the guards, 
nerved somewhat by their comrade’s remark, and 

11 


AN UNEQUAL ENCOUNTER 


there was a very excellent chance of his being shot or 
stabbed before the janizaries could be called. He 
wheeled sharply on the speaker. “ Are you talking of 
me ?” he asked. And, without waiting for a reply, he 
seized the fellow by the neck and the waist-belt, lifted 
him off his feet, and with apparently but little effort, 
flung him ten or twelve feet away, where he 
lay prostrate. 

Another guard, brother to the injured man, drew his 
dagger. In two strides Bruce was standing over him, 
his clenched flst within a couple of inches of the Arab’s 
face. 

“ Drop that knife,” he said very quietly, and was 
obeyed. “ Now your gun.” The weapon fell on the 
sand. “Now run away.” The Arab did not wait 
for a second telling. 

Meanwhile Abdel Gin, having flung half a pint of 
hot coffee in the face of another guard, signalled to 
the four janizaries, who now came forward at the 
double. 

“ No, no !” cried Sidi Hassan. “ Let us be friends. 
Give me the coffee, and we will be at peace ;” and he 
hastily took the cup which Abdel Gin had poured 
out, and drank it in token that hostilities were ended. 
Then, deaf to the Egyptian’s entreaties that he would 
join forces against the Atouni, Bruce walked back to 
his tent, and remained there till the caravan had 
journeyed on, and he was free to geologize at his 
leisure. 

As he wandered farther afield he found more granite, 
interspersed with serpentine; then green jasper, 
12 



Short Shrift 

Bruce saw that the time for action had come. ... He wheeled sharply on the speaker. 
“ Are you talking of me ?” he asked. And without waiting for a reph^ he seized the fellow 
by the neck and the waist-belt . . . and flung him ten or twelve feet away. 
















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BRUCE RIDES AHEAD 


spotted with red, and so hard that only several heavy 
hammer-strokes would break it. Further ahead lay 
a wide green slope, which the servants proclaimed to 
be grass. Bruce rode forward, and found that the 
“ grass ” was a magnificent bed of jasper ; and, beyond 
it, in splendid profusion, lay clumps of red jasper, or 
“blood-stone,” and, again, a fioor of marble—green, 
studded with white. 

Bruce had often wondered whence the ancients 
procured so much porphyry and jasper for their walls 
and carvings ; but here was stone enough to build 
Rome and Athens, Syracuse and Alexandria, haK a 
dozen times over. 

Several times during the remainder of the journey 
he passed, or was overtaken by, the caravan, but still 
adhered to his resolution to ignore it. 

Within a few hours’ ride of Cosseir he and the Turks 
galloped forward, leaving the servants to come on 
with the camels and baggage. But, by evening, as 
his party had not arrived at the appointed spot, he 
mounted his horse and rpde back into the desert in 
search of it. 

Soon he caught sight of his men, riding slowly, and 
several of them evidently wounded ; and Abdel Gin 
was nowhere to be seen. Their story was that, while 
they were riding at some distance from the caravan, 
the latter had been attacked by a band of the Atouni, 
who had succeeded in putting the guards to flight, 
when, “ from nowhere,” a strong force of Abade 
Arabs had ridden to the rescue, and driven ofi the 
brigands. Then the arrivals from nowhere, after 
13 


SAD NEWS OF ABDEL GIN 


consultation with Sidi Hassan, had ridden after 
Bruce’s party, and arrested Abdel Gin who, added 
the servants, was now probably being killed by the 
Abade. 

Enraged at this insult, Bruce spurred in the direc¬ 
tion indicated, shouting to the janizaries to follow as 
soon as they had escorted the baggage within the town 
precincts. He soon came up with a body of Arabs 
riding across his path in a line parallel to the town ; 
and saw ahead of them another and smaller con¬ 
tingent, above the sound of whose voices he thought 
he recognised the tones of his faithful servant. 

In a moment he was surrounded by men who, he 
saw at a glance, were less to be despised than the half 
town-bred caravan Arabs. And now, as his anger 
had time to cool, he realized his folly in riding alone, 
and armed only with one pistol, into the midst of a 
hundred semi-savages, whose levelled javehns and 
musket-barrels hemmed him in on all sides. His only 
chance lay in bluster. 

“ Whose men are you he demanded; “ and 
who are those that I see yonder ?” 

The tone seemed to surprise the Arabs, who had, 
doubtless, expected prayers for mercy. 

“ We are the servants of Sheik Ammer,” growled 
the leader ; “ but what is that to you 

“ Sheik Ammer 

The prisoner could not repress a cry of joy. The 
Sheik and his sons had been patients of his while they 
were staying in Cairo during the preceding year, and, 
inasmuch as the old man owed his life to Bruce’s 
14 


BRUCE’S HEROIC VENTURE 


medical skill, all had repeatedly sworn lifelong alliance 
and friendship with him. 

“ Then we are brethren,” he said, smihng. “ Where 
is Nimmer ? Where is Ibrahim ?” (the Sheik’s 
sons). 

His captors fell back in astonishment. 

“ Who, then, are you ?” they cried. 

“ Tell me, first, who is your prisoner in front ?” 

“ One of the Atouni, our enemy, who has been 
guilty of our blood.” 

“ Dogs, and sons of dogs !” shouted Bruce. “ He 
is my servant and friend. If a hair of his head is 
injured, Ibrahim will not suffer one of you ever to see 
the Nile again. Where is Ibrahim ?” 

“ In the tent yonder,” said the leader, now answer¬ 
ing with whining respect; and Bruce, looking whither 
the man pointed, saw a tent outline faintly showing 
in the hght of a small fire. 

Galloping breathlessly towards it, and shouting a 
word of encouragement to his servant as he passed the 
knot of men who had Abdel Gin in charge, he pulled 
up outside the tent, shouting : 

“ Ibrahim ! Ibrahim !” 

A handsome, stern-visaged Arab appeared, with a 
torch in his hand, which he held up as Bruce dis¬ 
mounted, then dropped with an exclamation of joy 
on recognising him. 

“ What! Our physician and brother !” he cried, 
and would have embraced the doctor, but the latter 
drew himself up coldly. 

“ Are you the men that cursed yourselves and your 
15 


TIMELY AND UNLOOKED-FOR AID 


children if ever you laid hands on me or mine, in 
desert or forest, city or ploughed field he asked. 

“ Surely,” stammered the young chief ; “ and we 
still say so.” 

“ Then accursed ye all are,” said Bruce, “ for your 
tribesmen have captured my servant, and are about 
to slay him.” 

Ibrahim started angrily, and, before his visitor could 
enter into details, shouted to a group of slaves : 

“ Bring me the men who have presumed to injure 
my friend’s servant.” And he drew Bruce within the 
tent, earnestly imploring forgiveness and promising 
vengeance. • 

In a few minutes Abdel Gin, thinking his last hour 
had come, was hustled in between a score of Arabs. 
Bruce immediately stepped over to him and severed 
the cords which bound him, and the poor fellow fiung 
himself at his master’s feet with a sob of gratitude. 

Then there arose a Babel of tongues—his late captors 
pleading for mercy, and offering explanations ; and all 
Bruce’s ingenuity was now required to prevent Ibrahim 
from ordering a general massacre of the offenders. 

The explanation was of interest to the Scotchman, 
and ran thus : After the Atouni had been put to rout, 
Sidi Hassan had instructed his rescuers to go in search 
of another caravan, made up of an infidel physician of 
stupendous stature, his Atouni servant, who had 
slain one of the Abade, and some Turkish strangers 
who had stolen the wealth of the caravan, to kill the 
Turks, and bring their baggage, with the English 
doctor and his servant, to Sidi Hassan. 

16 


THE LAST OF SIDI HASSAN 


When Ibrahim had yielded to his entreaties and 
dismissed the Arabs, Brnce turned to him again with 
the remark : 

“ My brother, you have rendered me two services ; I 
ask one more. Take care that, when Sidi Hassan leaves 
Cosseir, it is with sore bones ; for I fear he already knows 
me too well to come within half a mile of my riding- 
whip.” 

“ It shall be done, dear friend,” said Ibrahim 
fervently. 

Unfortunately it was not done; for a few days after¬ 
wards, while Bruce was walking near the quay, a stir 
in the crowd made him look round, and there was 
Sidi Hassan running for his life with the Turkish 
travellers in pursuit. Two of them outran him and faced 
him; but, before they could draw their scimitars, the 
wily Egyptian had dodged between their flapping and 
voluminous nether gear, toppling one of them down 
the steps nearly into the water; then, springing into a 
boat which apparently was waiting for him, he was 
soon borne out of pistol-shot, where he remained so 
long as Bruce stayed in Cosseir. 


17 


B 


CHAPTER II 


WITH HUMBOLDT ON THE LLANOS 

The llanos—Humboldt and Bonpland—A blow from behind—A 
death-struggle with a Zambo—A red fog—The earthquake— 
The eclipse—The meteor shower—Crossing the desert—A 
jaguar and several monkeys—The guide’s lesson in zoology— 
Taking the wrong direction—A two days’ hunt for the right 
one—An interrupted swim—Lost again. 

The llanos, or plains of the Orinoco basin, cover an area 
of more than 160,000 square miles, and in many places 
extend for hundreds of miles at a dead-level, unbroken 
by so much as a foot’s rise. After the rainy season 
they become for a short time so thickly clad with 
green as to earn locally the name of “ the sea of 
grass,” but, in the drought which follows all too quickly, 
the vegetation becomes parched and withered, and 
lies like tinder, till a wave of fire sweeps across it, 
leaving nothing but a desert of sand and stones, for¬ 
saken by the birds and animals which have made the 
plain their temporary home, while the serpents and 
alligators bury themselves in the sand, there to lie 
until roused to activity by the next wet season. 

Until about a hundred years ago little definite was 
known about these llanos, for the histories and travels 
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries dealt 
18 


HUMBOLDT AND BONPLAND 


mainly with the South American coast-line or the 
great towns, giving only very untrustworthy and often 
legendary accounts of the deserts themselves. 

It was the perusal of the half-imaginary descriptions 
of Ulloa, Condamine, and others that led one of the 
world’s greatest scientists, Baron von Humboldt, to 
test the truth of them by close personal investigation, 
and the results of his researches form the basis upon 
which modern knowledge of the physiography of 
equatorial America is built. 

With the celebrated French traveller Bonpland, he 
arrived at Cumana in Venezuela in July, 1799, and 
making this town his headquarters, he planned a series 
of excursions which would take him across the llanos 
in all directions, and ultimately up the River Orinoco 
to the point on the equator where its feeder, the Cassi- 
quiare, joins the Rio Negro. 

An expected eclipse of the sun led the scientists to 
confine themselves to short journeys until this event 
should have taken place, as the phenomena connected 
with it would be best observable from the higher 
llanos round Cumana. 

About a week before the eclipse, while the two 
friends were walking near one of their temporary 
observatory stations, a sudden hurried rustling in the 
dry grass and sand behind made Humboldt pause and 
1 look round. Had he not done so the world would have 
been deprived of much of its scientific knowledge, for 
f. within a few feet of him was a tall Zambo, or negro- 

i ' Indian half-caste, armed with a heavy macana or palm- 
I wood club. Bonpland, unsuspecting, continued his walk. 

19 B 2 


A BLOW FROM BEHIND 


Humboldt was unarmed at the time, and withal a 
man of peace, unskilled in the gymnastics of self- 
defence ; he was, moreover, only just recovering from 
a serious attack of fever, and the suddenness of the 
Zambo’s appearance deprived him for the moment of 
all power of speech. Trying vainly, like a man in a 
nightmare, to call to his friend, he just managed to 
spring out of the Zambo’s path, a movement which 
saved him by concentrating the pursuer’s attention 
on Bonpland, to whom Humboldt was now just able to 
shout in warning. 

The Frenchman stopped, turned, and realized his 
danger too late, for before he could move or close with 
the enemy the macana came crashing down on his fore¬ 
head with a sickening thud, felHng him to the ground, 
where he lay motionless. 

Neglectful, in his anxiety for his friend, of his own 
safety, Humboldt ran towards the prostrate man at 
the risk of an attack from the Zambo. But there 
seemed to be nothing further to fear from that worthy, 
who in a leisurely way, as though nothing out of the 
ordinary had happened, picked up Bonpland’s hat, 
examined it, and marched off with it across the sand 
in the direction whence presumably he had come. 

The German stooped down, trembling with appre¬ 
hension lest the worst might have happened, turned 
his friend over on to his back, and was about to feel 
if his heart still beat, when to his joy Bonpland opened 
his eyes and struggled to his feet. Happily the brim 
of his hat had caught the weight of the club, and the 
blow which, had it fallen on his bare head, must have 
20 


DEATH-STRUGGLE WITH A ZAMfeO 


crushed his skull, had merely stunned him for a few 
moments. 

Mad with pain and the desire for revenge, the irascible 
young Frenchman started in pursuit of the Zambo, 
who, as soon as he saw himself followed, quickened his 
casual stroll into a brisk trot. Humboldt, seeing that 
the angry pursuer was not to be restrained, joined in 
the pursuit as well as he could, dimly wondering what 
they could do with, or to, the culprit if they caught him. 

There was still sufficient light left to show them the 
half-caste’s fleeing figure making for a little cactus 
thicket that lay between them and the town. Hum¬ 
boldt in his weak condition was soon exhausted and 
obliged to stop, and he called on his friend to do like¬ 
wise. But the incensed Frenchman had an injury to 
avenge. 

He, cochon,” he cried to the Zambo, increasing his 
speed, “ attendez un peu !” But the fugitive declined 
the invitation. All at once, however, a treacherous 
stone in his path brought him full length on the ground, 
and before he could rise Bonpland had caught up with 
him. 

Agile and wiry, and as fearless as though he had not 
just come within an inch of having his brains knocked 
out, the man of science gripped his recent assailant, 
and a struggle began, the result of which was not easy 
to foretell. Humboldt, having recovered his breath, 
set off as quickly as he could towards the combatants, 
and had arrived within about forty yards of them 
when the Zambo, jerking one arm free, pulled out a 
lohg-bladed knife from under his sash. 

21 


DEATH-STRUGGLE WITH A ZAMBO 


And now the temporary stimulus which anger had 
given was fast wearing off, and Bonpland was growing 
faint and giddy ; there could no longer be any doubt 
that the Zambo was to be the victor in the death- 
struggle. Humboldt ran on, at the same time shouting 
for help, and had nearly reached the pair when 
answering cries sounded behind him, drawing nearer, 
and combining themselves with the clink of horses’ 
hoofs. 

Bonpland was making his last desperate effort at self- 
defence ; in another minute he would be at the mercy 
of his adversary. Even as Humboldt drew near, the 
Zambo shook his arm free from the hand that re¬ 
strained it, and poised the knife in the air for a 
murderous blow. Suddenly he caught sight, not only 
of Humboldt, but of a couple of horsemen who were 
rapidly overtaking the latter, and, dropping the knife, 
he fled into the darkness, the riders after him. These 
were two Cumana farmers, and they followed him 
to a shed and arrested him. 

Bonpland was so exhausted that it was with difficulty 
that his friend got him back to their lodgings in the 
town, and though his fine constitution and regular life 
helped him to overcome in a day or two the fever that 
resulted, he felt the effects of the shock for many 
months after. The Zambo, when brought up for trial, 
could assign no reason for his conduct except that he 
had recently been put ashore by the French captain 
of a San Domingo privateersman, who had persistently 
ill-used him, and having earlier in the day overheard 
the scientists conversing in French, he had connected 
22 


A RED FOG 


them with the cause of his troubles, and had taken the 
first opportunity of following them to a desolate spot. 
He was committed to the gaol, but before Humboldt 
left the town he made his escape, and was never heard 
of again. 

The long-looked-for solar ecHpse was now due, and 
the two friends again betook themselves to their 
desert observatory. For several nights a red vapour 
had arisen in the evening, swiftly spreading across 
earth and sky, and enveloping the whole in a richly- 
tinted curtain of fog. Sometimes it would disappear 
as suddenly as it had come, and, in its place, clouds of 
dazzling whiteness formed, extending to the horizon. 
These in their turn would disappear once more to give 
place to the crimson fog. 

On the night before the actual eclipse these clouds 
were again in evidence, so brilliant and transparent 
that even stars of the fourth magnitude were visible, 
as also the spots on the face of the moon, the latter 
“ arranged in equidistant masses, and evidently indi¬ 
cating mountains of tremendous height. A breeze 
arose, dissipated the lustrous films, then fell again, 
leaving the atmosphere as if suffused with the red smoke 
of artillery.” 

By two o’clock on the following afternoon clouds of 
a strange heavy blackness seemed to spring from below 
the horizon, and, spreading, quickly hid the distant 
Cordilleras from view. During the next two hours 
they gradually thickened, and by four o’clock the 
whole plain lay in darkness. Just then thunder 
was heard “ overhead, but at a tremendous height, 
23 


THE EARTHQUAKE 

without any rolling, and with a hoarse interrupted 
sound.” 

The rolling increased till it became an unbroken 
roar, sounding ever nearer to the earth. Suddenly it 
swelled to a deafening burst, as though it would rend 
the entire world apart; the ground underfoot heaved 
slightly; the heaving merged into a tumultuous 
rocking, and then the whole globe seemed to be dashing 
downwards through space like some great aerolite. 
Once more the thunder sank to a sullen rumble, then 
rose again to its former crash, while with a shock as 
though it had reached the bottom of an abyss the earth 
stood still again. 

The negro servants lay crouching, face to the ground, 
trembling, shrieking, or loudly confessing their sins, 
for they were convinced that the end of all things had 
come. A mere earthquake was nothing—a common 
occurrence, like fog or hail in London; but an earth¬ 
quake, heralded by blood-hued fogs and flaming clouds, 
bringing in its train a couple of hours of ceaseless 
thunder and impenetrable darkness, was more than 
the nervous systems of even the most apathetic negroes 
could endure. 

Bonpland, who had been standing in the tent, was 
thrown violently against his colleague, who lay in a 
hammock at the entry, and, as they picked themselves 
up, a gust of wind arose, so violent that it threatened 
to carry away the tent bodily. This was immediately 
followed by “an electrical rain in great drops,” and 
then by an even more vigorous earthquake than before. 

After this the sky rapidly grew lighter, though 
24 


THE METEOR SHOWER 


dimmed still by gray clouds; the rain and the wind 
ceased simultaneously, and an oppressive calm ensued. 
But by evening the western sky shook off its weight of 
clouds, and was soon lighted by the beams of the 
declining sun. 

“ The setting of the sun,” says Humboldt, “ pre¬ 
sented a scene of extraordinary magnificence. The 
thick veil of the clouds was rent asunder as in shreds 
quite near the horizon, the sun appeared at twelve 
degrees of altitude on a firmament of indigo blue. 
Its disk was enormously enlarged, distorted, and 
undulated towards the edges. The clouds were 
gilded, and fasciculi of divergent rays, which reflected 
the most brilliant colours of the rainbow, extended 
even to the midst of the heavens.” 

Towards early morning Bonpland, stifled and sleep¬ 
less for want of air, rose, and strolled out into the 
semi-darkness. Presently, looking towards the point 
on the horizon where the sun would shortly appear, 
he witnessed a sight that in its grandeur came near to 
surpassing the previous night’s sunset—the sudden 
flight of thousands of fireballs and shooting-stars 
across the heavens, first from the east in all directions, 
then from north to south, each meteor leaving behind 
it a luminous trail which lasted for nearly ten seconds. 
The larger bodies, giving off a strange white light, due 
probably to the absence of vapours, disappeared sud¬ 
denly, but the smaller, before reaching the horizon, 
burst rocketwise, distributing a rain of glowing frag¬ 
ments before and behind. 

He hurried back to warn Humboldt, but when he 
25 


CROSSING THE DESERT 


had succeeded in rousing him the meteor shower was 
over. 

Humboldt had now delayed his greater expedition 
so long that it would be impossible to attempt it till 
after the rainy season, so he withdrew to Caracas, 
there to await the coming of spring. Leaving that 
place in February, the two started for the Orinoco, 
across the Cordilleras of Venezuela, and the desert 
lying beyond. Scaling the tableland of Buena Vista 
they came upon a wild but moderately wooded country, 
desolate and almost waterless, till it shelved down to 
the valleys of Aragua, which they found inhabited by 
knots of Indian families, and containing not only small 
streams and pools, but also boiling springs, whose 
waters are of great medicinal value. 

Thence the road towards Punta Zamura lay straight 
and level, shaded here and there by tall mimosas. 
But the heat was so exhausting that the travellers 
decided to journey by night. They tried this experi¬ 
ment, but after the first attempt were glad to abandon 
it, for they had gone but little distance when the negro 
guide set up a plaintive yell, which soon grew to a 
prolonged howl. Questioned as to the cause of his 
woe, he pointed eloquently to a break in the line of 
trees where, in the refiected light from a distant 
burning plain, they saw a jaguar persistently keeping 
pace with them some yards to their left. To attempt 
to shoot the animal was scarcely safe ; both scientists 
lacked the true sportsman’s instinct, and it was im¬ 
possible in the gloom, and balked by continually 
intervening tree-trunks, to get a certain aim. If they 
26 


A JAGUAR AND SEVERAL MONKEYS 


missed, it would be a charge wasted; and if they only 
wounded the brute, he would most assuredly attack 
them. 

There were no mazagine rifles in those days— 
scarcely such a thing as a breech-loader, and when once 
a gun was fired, to reload it with powder and ball was 
a business of some minutes. Therefore, holding back 
their fire in case the beast should spring suddenly, they 
moved gingerly on in the darkness, trying in vain to 
convince the negro that his cries in no way helped to 
drive off the jaguar. 

It was morning before they got free of their undesir¬ 
able neighbour, whose attention was at last distracted 
by some oxen drinking at a lake of some size which 
the travellers were now approaching—almost the last 
stagnant water left by the drought that was fast over¬ 
spreading the plain. 

The hne of mimosas continued for some miles along¬ 
side the lake, to the margin of which Humboldt resolved 
to keep close as long as possible, warned by the negro 
of the scarcity of water ahead. They found here less 
formidable, though noisier, desert companions than the 
jaguar, in the form of an itinerant colony of monkeys, 
of the kind known as “ howlers ” (Simia ursina). These 
ran gaily along from tree to tree, never touching the 
ground, but, when there was an inconveniently wide 
space between any two trees, curling the tips of theix 
tails round branches, from which they hung suspended, 
while they swung themselves backward and forward 
till they could grasp a convenient twig on the next tree. 
One old male monkey led the way, chanting in a tenor 
27 


THE GUIDE’S LESSON IN ZOOLOGY 


voice, and all the rest followed, without exception 
swinging from one tree to another at the identical 
point which the leader had chosen for that operation. 

As the amusement created by the sight of their 
antics began to pall, it was with rehef that the travellers 
found themselves emerging from the mimosa avenue, 
for the howling was irritating and ear-splitting, and 
so penetrating that Humboldt could still hear it 
plainly when he had left the trees nearly a mile 
behind. 

Questioned, the negro guide waxed communicative 
on the subject of the howlers ; vouchsafed the informa¬ 
tion that one special monkey in each troop was ap¬ 
pointed precentor or leader of the choir; nay, more, that, 
when a lady monkey was indisposed, simian chivalry 
demanded that all howling should cease till either she 
got better or her death warranted her friends’ singing 
her dirge. 

The explorers accepted these details with polite 
gravity, but when the negro’s artistic fancy led him 
to state that in crossing a river the able-bodied monkeys 
are in the habit of linking themselves by tails and arms 
into a suspension-bridge for weaker brethren to pass 
over, they sternly requested him to hold his peace on 
the ground that further revelations of that kind were 
not calculated to advance the interests of science. 

Once away from the lake their route took them out 
of sight of almost every appearance of vegetable life 
except an occasional tree, stunted, leafless, and 
miserably shrivelled. The thermometer rose to 122° F., 
and there was no breeze, save now and then a 
28 



An Interrupted Bathe 

Whilst bathing in tlie river one evening, Humboldt’s and Bonpland's enjoyment was 
curtailed by a warning scream from their negro. A cayman was swimming towards 
them, and the}’ had only just time to get ashore and run with their clothes to escape his 
jaws. 














.4 






TAKING THE WRONG DIRECTION 


sudden warm gust which, so far from refreshing them, 
filled their eyes and throats with sand. 

The guide was steering for a farm called El Cayman, 
but by some means or other a wrong turn was taken, 
and the adventurers were soon hopelessly astray, 
without water, and with but little store of provisions. 
For two days and nights they wandered, sometimes 
passing over the same ground where they had been 
twenty-four hours before, sometimes allured and 
mocked by the empty promises of a mirage, and never 
seeing human face or habitation. 

But, on the afternoon of the third day, the guide 
suddenly uttered a shout of joy, saying they were on 
the right road, and shortly confirmed his statement by 
indicating the dim outhne of a reed-and-skin hut in 
front of them, beyond which lay a sheet of water. 
The mules broke into a smart trot, and soon the party 
drew up at the door of the hut, where they found an 
old negro whose notions of truth were similar to those 
of their guide, and whose laziness was such that he 
had not even energy to ask impertinent questions. 

As soon as Humboldt and Bonpland had drunk and 
had unladen their mules, they turned the animals loose. 
The instinct of the latter at once led them to the pool 
that lay about six furlongs from the hut, whither the 
men followed them. The grass-fringed water looked so 
seductively cool and clear in the evening light that all 
three flung off their clothes and plunged in for a 
luxurious swim. 

But a scream from the negro curtailed their enjoy¬ 
ment, for it directed their attention to a cayman, or 
29 


LOST AGAIN 


alligator, full fifteen feet long, that was swimming after 
them, and rapidly gaining upon them. Fortunately 
they were not far from the bank, and easily reached 
it before the monster could get near them. Picking 
up their clothes they hastened to a safe distance to 
dress, by which time it was dusk, and when they looked 
round for the hut it seemed to have mysteriously 
disappeared. 

They searched in all directions, but every step 
seemed to take them further from it. Evidently on 
leaving the lake they had started in a different line 
from the one they had followed thither, and had 
passed it in the dark. Overcome at length with sleep, 
the two white men sank down under a tree, and were 
just dozing, when the negro’s quick ears detected the 
sound of a horse galloping. All three shouted their 
loudest, thus attracting the attention of an Indian, who, 
well knowing the hut and its proprietor, had no diffi¬ 
culty in leading them back to their temporary abode. 


30 


CHAPTER III 


IN THE COLORADO DESERT 

American exploration—The Lewis-Clarke expedition—The Platte 
River—A hunt—The hunters hunted—Racing for dear hfe 
—“ Prepare to receive buffaloes !”—A new battle—The 
wolves—A gallant resistance—Enemies turned alHes—The 
Indian ambassadors—The conference—A rebuke—The prairie- 
fire—A mother’s presence of mind—The “ great medicine ”— 
The sergeant alarmed—The aurora boreahs—Winter in the 
desert—Famine—The sand-clouds—Discovery of the Missouri 
Rapids—Indian spies—Getting ready for the enemy—The 
storm—The alarm—The battle—Turning the tables on the 
savages—Victory. 

If ever an exhaustive work on the history of exploration 
comes to be written, the pioneer labours of United 
States travellers must needs occupy a considerable 
portion of its space, for not only have they, through 
the labours of such men as Ledyard and Wilkes, largely 
contributed to Arctic, Antarctic, and Asiatic discovery, 
but they have also fulfilled the task for which they 
themselves were surely best qualified—the seeking and 
obtaining of a more complete and accurate knowledge 
of their own vast coimtry. 

In the days before railways the States or Territories 
of Colorado and Wyoming came to a great extent under 
the head of “ les mauvaises terres ” of the old voyageurs 

31 


THE LEWIS-CLARKE EXPEDITION 


—lands, that is, that would never repay the labour 
spent on their cultivation; and even in these times of 
steam-ploughing and scientific irrigation many hun¬ 
dreds of square miles remain bleak stone desert and 
ill-watered prairie. 

When the Lewis and Clarke expedition set out from 
St. Charles in 1804 to discover the sources of the 
Missouri River, these lands were “bad” in a more 
alarming sense than that of barrenness, for they were 
the homes, if not the exclusive property, of fierce 
Indian tribes who regarded the white man as their 
natural enemy, and whose treatment of him if he fell 
into their hands was by no means limited to mere 
robbery. 

Captains Clarke and Lewis were officers of the 
United States army, and by virtue of military experi¬ 
ence, scientific knowledge, and familiarity with Indian 
customs and dialects, were remarkably well fitted for 
control of the perilous march from Kentucky, across 
the northern continent, to the Pacific shores. 

The early days of the journey were far from being 
unpleasant or arduous. The weather was fine, with¬ 
out excess of heat or cold ; the route never lay very far 
from the river, and the few Indians encountered were 
either too friendly or too timorous to be regarded as a 
cause of anxiety. But when a halt was made at the 
Platte River everyone felt that the days of security 
and of fatness were drawing to a close. On both 
banks lay hundreds of thousands of acres of cheerless 
prairie, offering nothing more in the way of food than 
buffalo meat. Other animals were in evidence : elks 
32 


THE PLATTE RIVER 


and deer, which were unassailable while they protected 
themselves behind impenetrable herds of bisons; 
wolves and hears, the latter having a habit of recon¬ 
noitring the camp from a short distance, as though one 
of them meditated a descent on it at a convenient 
season. 

Still, there was no further sign of Indians, and the 
nearer approach of some of the buffaloes (or, strictly 
speaking, bisons) constituting a temptation to the 
marksmen of the party. Captain Lewis prolonged the 
halt for a day while an old French hunter and his son, 
who had voluntarily accompanied the expedition, went 
in search of game. 

As by noon they did not return, Lewis remarked to 
some of the men who were unoccupied : 

“ Some of you fellows had better rig up a waggon 
and stand by to- What was that V 

“ And that ? And that added Captain Clarke, 
who had joined the group. “ One barrel from one man, 
and two from another immediately after. Do they 
think they’re bagging partridges ?” 

Before the question could be satisfactorily an¬ 
swered three more reports in rapid succession were 
heard. 

“ I don’t hke it,” said Lewis, unslinging his telescope. 
“ What arms had the Frenchmen ?” 

A soldier replied : 

‘‘ Two double-barrelled guns each, sir, and most 
likely their pistols.” 

“ They’re not the men to waste ammunition for the 
fun of the thing,” said Clarke, while his friend scanned 
33 c 



-PREPARE TO RECEIVE BUFFALOES!” 


the landscape through his glass. “ And neither of 
them is the man to want two shots at a bison.” 

He turned to go in search of his own telescope, 
when a loud exclamation from Lewis pulled him up 
short. 

“ Well he asked. “ Indians, I reckon ?” 

For answer Captain Lewis held out his glass. 

“ Have a look,” he said, and, turning to the sergeant 
of the guard, continued abruptly: - Fall them in— 
open order—ball cartridge—^prepare to receive— ” 

- Buffaloes !” ejaculated Clarke, finishing the order, 
but in a hoarse and awestruck voice that belied his 
apparent levity. 

What had at first been only visible through a tele¬ 
scope was now to be seen with the naked eye. Less 
than a thousand yards away were two men riding 
madly across the desert towards the camp, and close 
behind them a reddish-black mass that could only be 
a bison herd; and, as the distance lessened, a couple of 
puffs of white smoke, followed presently by two little 
pops, showed that the riders were reduced to their 
pistols for means of defence. 

- If they’ll only have the sense to lead the brutes off 
the track a bit we can get in a safe volley at long range, 
and have another ready for them if they care to come 
so far,” muttered Lewis to his companion. 

This was true enough, but then the bisons could not 
be expected to advance in conformity with drill-book 
regulations, nor was it at all certain that the hunted 
men’s self-saving instinct would not lead them blindly 
towards the tents, thus making it impossible for their 
34 


t 


§ 



THE WOLVES 


or gazing with wonder on their assailants, and, when 
the men were ordered to advance at a slow double, 
these also turned and fled. 

The hunters now rode up, and when they had 
regained their breath, told their story. They had 
surprised a group of young bisons a couple of hundred 
yards away from the herd, and had shot two of them, 
the rest fleeing ; and, emboldened by success, they had 
drawn nearer to the herd, killing one of the number at 
long range. Then the whole herd had unexpectedly 
rushed upon them. 

The explorers had still not seen the last of the bisons, 
for on the next day, as they came to a deserted Indian 
village, they beheld on one side of it a sight quite novel 
to all but the two hunters. Hundreds, if not thousands, 
of these prairie oxen were gathering together in a 
rough circle, and the old bulls seemed to be driving the 
cows and calves into the centre, themselves forming 
the circumference of the ring. 

The old French hunter, after watching these move¬ 
ments with intense interest, said suddenly and 
laconically, “ Wolves ! They smell them !” and, while 
he yet spoke, one of the soldiers, with an exclamation of 
surprise, pointed up the hill beyond the herd, down 
which rushed a pack of wolves almost as numerous as 
the bisons. Lewis called a halt, and warned the men 
to be on their guard. 

“ The bisons have given us meat for some time to 
come,” he said. “ We’ll stand by them if need be.” 

The hungry pack swept down the incHne, one 
enormous heaving billow, tramphng down those that 
36 


A GALLANT RESISTANCE 


were slow of foot, each trying to outstrip or overleap 
the other in their lust for prey. As the harsh cries 
grew nearer, the bisons were seen to have completed 
their plans for defence, and the army of wolves found a 
truly fearful array of horns, and heads like battering- 
rams, awaiting their attack. 

The onlookers stood a-tiptoe in tense anticipation 
and wonderment, silent witnesses of one of those 
conflicts by means of which Nature so wonderfully 
provides against surplus population among the lower 
animals. 

A discordant intermingling of lowing and howling, 
followed by spasmodic barks, gasps, snorts, and yelps, 
announced that the battle had begun. The wolves, 
repulsed at one quarter, sought another, and a young 
male bison with a deep groan of agony fell on his knees, 
a huge gray wolf hanging by his teeth to the poor 
creature’s neck. But the wolf’s triumph was of short 
duration, for the magniflcent bull that stood next, with 
a sideward lunge of his head, sent him flying through 
space like a stone from a catapult; then turned to meet 
a double assault, and immediately one enemy lay gored 
from back to front, while the other, which had sprung 
at the hero’s throat, was crushed and writhing beneath 
the bison’s forefeet. Then the long-restrained excite¬ 
ment of the soldiers burst forth in a hearty cheer, at 
the sound of which many of the wolves fled, and the 
bisons looked wonderingly around as though expecting 
a new foe. 

But now a detachment of thirty of the attacking 
force made combined assault at a small breach left by 
37 



ENEMIES TURNED ALLIES 


the fall of some of the defenders, and with triumphant 
barks began slowly to make their way inwards. 

Captain Clarke turned to his colleague, and said in a 
sickened whisper : 

“ I can’t stand any more of this. Let’s give these 
fiends a shot or two.” 

“ Yes ; I allow we’ve had about enough of it,” 
replied Lewis, wincing involuntarily as the bull that 
had so distinguished himself was pulled down by four 
wolves. 

A few well-judged shots brought about a cessation of 
hostilities, during which some of the famished wolves 
began an informal meal, apparently indifferent as to 
whether the subject thereof was bison or brother. 
Another small volley, accompanied by the waving of 
extemporized flambeaux of dry brushwood, sent the 
loathly pack tearing up the hill again, while the bisons 
galloped contentedly away in the opposite direction, 
ignoring their allies. 

The expedition moved forward again, and at night 
encamped near a bend of the river. Just as the even¬ 
ing meal was finished, half a dozen Indians suddenly 
appeared, and, challenged by the sentries, civilly asked 
for the pale-face chief. After exchange of courtesies 
they said that their camp was a mile away, and that, on 
hearing through scouts of the approach of the white 
men, the chiefs had sent to invite them to a council to 
be holden on the morrow to decide about going to 
war with a wandering Western tribe. 

Following their usual policy of conciliating the 
natives when possible, the explorers willingly agreed 
38 


THE INDIAN AMBASSADORS 


to attend, and dismissed the ambassadors with a 
package of tobacco. In the morning it appeared that 
the Indians had decided to come and hold their con¬ 
ference in the visitors’ camp, for just as the guard— 
twenty soldiers, Clarke’s negro servant, and the two 
Frenchmen—turned out to escort the officers, mount 
guard over the camp, or reconnoitre the neighbourhood, 
a large body of braves, unarmed, were seen riding 
towards the tents. Lewis ordered the firing of a blank 
volley in salute (and possibly as a hint against 
treachery), and then had the waggon awnings and 
sails of the portable boats rigged into a commodious 
canopy for the speech-makers to sit under. 

The senior chief opened with a few words of welcome, 
and called upon the white men—whom he christened 
the “ great medicine ”—to give their views as to what 
treatment should be meted out to a tribe that had 
stolen their cattle and one of their women, and had 
tried to slay some of the braves. 

Lewis understood the Indian tongue better than he 
spoke it, and began a halting and somewhat rambling 
speech, the purport of which was to advise the savages 
to avoid war and live peaceably. But, before he could 
finish, one of the chiefs rose impatiently, and exclaimed 
that there had been enough talk, and that, while they 
were conferring, the Shoshonees, or some other evil- 
disposed tribe, might be ravaging their camp. Im¬ 
mediately the other chiefs rose, not to depart, but to 
express their wrath and horror at this breach of 
politeness, and the restless one sat down abused?and 
abashed. 


39 


THE PRAIRIE FIRE 


But the council was fated not to reach a formal 
conclusion, for presently shouts of alarm sounded from 
the Indian village ; there was a confused champing and 
whinnying of tethered horses, followed by a stampede 
of bisons, with small herds of deer and a few agitated 
pelicans; then the unmistakable reek of burning 
vegetable matter. The prairie was on fire. 

The explorers’ camp could take no harm, for there 
was nothing more infiammable than sand and short 
grass within several yards ; but, judging from the 
trepidation of the redskins, it was probable that theirs 
did not enjoy like security. There was a general rush 
for the native camp, and before the officers could reach 
it the flames were driven back from all the wigwams 
save two or three that were more or less isolated. 
Soldiers and Indians united in trying to save the 
luckless occupants, two of whom were burned to death 
before help could reach them ; for the flare of a burning 
prairie is like a live thing that darts at a man before he 
can move, and shrivels him like a moth in a candle- 
flame. 

All others were safe now, except a half-caste lad and 
his mother. The boy was paralyzed with terror, and 
lay huddled, neck and heels, deaf to the frantic 
woman’s appeals. Three times she tried to lift him, 
but could not, and the flames were now within a few 
yards of her, and before the rescue party could reach 
her she must perish. The “ pale-faces ” turned their 
heads away, for they had not learned to look unmoved 
on such sights. But a minute afterwards triumphant 
cries from the Indians proclaimed that something 
40 


A MOTHER’S PRESENCE OF MIND 


unusual had happened, and upon looking round, the 
soldiers caught sight of the woman running well ahead 
of the flames towards a bare hillock, where no hurt 
could touch her ; and, as the fire rushed on past where 
she had stood, a dark mass rose up from the ground, and 
the half-breed boy began to walk uninjured towards 
the wigwams. The quick-witted mother, as a last 
resource, had wrapped the boy in a wet buffalo-hide, 
and the fire had passed him over, leaving him un¬ 
scathed. 

Before Lewis and Clarke could express their admira¬ 
tion some Indians came up to them, and thanked them 
warmly for having extended their protection to the 
boy, explaining that he was the son of a white man, 
and that he had been saved by the presence of the 
“ great medicine.” 

The warm weather was now ending, and the expe¬ 
dition, dreading a winter in the desert, hastened on¬ 
wards, leaving the Indians to settle their disputes as 
they might. The meat-supply was growing short, 
and there would be little more chance of bison-beef, 
for already the herds were beginning to move south¬ 
wards, as they always do when autumn comes on. A 
beautiful and unlooked-for phenomenon gave warning 
of the coming cold weather. One night Lewis was 
aroused by the sergeant, who stood pale and perturbed 
looking at his captain’s tent-door. He was from the 
South, and knew not winter as it is understood in 
Colorado and Wyoming. He pleaded so urgently that 
the captain should “ come outside and look ” that the 
latter followed the disturber of his slumbers to the 
41 


THE AURORA BOREALIS 


door, only to find that the Southerner had been scared 
out of his wits by a very fine aurora borealis, a descrip¬ 
tion of which may well be given in Lewis’s own 
words. 

“ Along the northern sky was a large space occupied 
by a light of a pale but brilliant white, which, rising 
from the horizon, extended itself to nearly twenty 
degrees above it. After glittering for some time, its 
colours would be overcast and almost obscured, but 
again it would burst out with renewed beauty ; the 
uniform colour was pale light, but its shapes were 
various and fantastic. At times the sky was lined with 
light-coloured streaks, rising perpendicularly from the 
horizon, and gradually expanding into a body of light 
in which we could trace the floating columns sometimes 
advancing, sometimes retreating, and shaping into 
infinite forms the space in which they moved.” 

This, as the explorers had feared, proved a harbinger 
of severe weather ; in a few more days the ground was 
iron-hard, and in less than a fortnight the thermometer 
sank to twelve degrees below zero, and eventually as 
low as thirty-two degrees. Before the winter was over, 
the sufferings of the travellers were indescribable, and 
it says much for the tact and kind firmness of the two 
officers that there was never any threatening of mutiny 
—a trouble that has only too often beset the explorer. 
Every ounce of meat had to be grudgingly weighed 
out ; the attacks of wolves must be warded off, fre¬ 
quently with much expenditure of ammunition that 
could ill be spared, and at length, when the last of the 
salted meat had been consumed, horses had to be 
42 


THE SAND-CLOUDS 


slaughtered for food. Moreover, the only drink 
obtainable was melted snow. 

But spring came at last, the thaws set in, and the 
desert became a swamp. Then came a strong wind 
from the north, which converted swamp into sand, and 
also inflicted a new torture on the soldiers, every one 
of whom was soon on the sick list from soreness of the 
eyes arising from the sand-clouds. Captain Lewis 
observes : 

“ The particles of this sand are so fine and light that 
it floats for miles in the air like a column of thick smoke, 
and is so penetrating that nothing can be kept free 
from it, and we were compelled to eat, drink, and 
breathe it very copiously.” 

As they bent their course further to the north-west 
they found the ground so rugged and broken that 
quick travelling was an impossibility, and to this 
succeeded, first, bare, burnt-looking hills, and then a 
salt desert, where were banks and sand-bars encrusted 
with salt as it were frost. 

The early summer was marked by an event of signal 
importance to the explorers—the discovery of the 
Missouri Rapids. 

On the first night spent by the river some Shoshonee 
Indians were seen paddling across from the opposite 
bank. Lewis and Clarke received them with due 
civility, gave them a seat at the camp-fire, and invited 
them to smoke with them. They did, and profited by 
the occasion to steal a pipe and an overcoat, and when 
charged by one of the soldiers with the theft, moved 
sulkily down the bank to their canoe. 

43 


INDIAN SPIES 


“ We’ve not seen the last of those amiable beings,” 
said Clarke, when the officers were alone in their tent. 
“ They were spies ; I watched ’em.” 

Lewis answered slowly : 

“ I’ve given them the credit of being so, at any rate, 
and I’ve posted extra sentries, and served out ball 
cartridge with a pretty lavish hand.” Lewis had ever 
treated the natives with infinite forbearance, but his 
patience was nearing its end. 

Suddenly a strong wind rose, and before long the 
rain was falling in sheets. The two captains were dis¬ 
inclined for sleep, knowing that, if the Indians dared 
face such a storm, it was the kind of night they were 
most likely to choose, either for petty camp robbery or 
for a planned general assault. Therefore they were in 
no way surprised when, as the rain abated after a 
continuous downpour of three hours, they heard a gun¬ 
shot from one of the sentries. 

“As we thought!” said Clarke, as the two buckled 
on swords and examined pistols. Before they could 
get out of the tent, other shots were heard, followed by 
the voice of the sergeant mustering the guard. 

“ Thieves ! I’ve shot one ! After the guns !” said 
the old Frenchman at sight of the officers. 

“ Away from the fire !” shouted Clarke. “ Don’t 
show them light to kill you by.” As he spoke an 
arrow whizzed through the flare of the watch-fire, and 
passed so near to him that the plume brushed his cheek. 
It was a time for the defenders to walk warily ; the 
movements behind the waggons told that the camp 
was surrounded—at least, by inquirers, if not. by 
44 


THE BATTLE 


enemies—while a couple of dead Indians near the fire, 
one still holding a rifle, the other a pistol, both the 
property of the camp, were evidence that a skilfully- 
planned seizure of the white men’s arms had been 
attempted. 

“ Ah ! Would you ?” It was Lewis’s voice, and as 
he spoke he stooped and seemed to snatch at some¬ 
thing, then sprang upright again, dragging with him 
the lithe body of an Indian who had been crawhng, 
worm-like, from near the captain’s tent, and who, 
seeing it was impossible to escape, now wound his 
arms and legs round the white man in a close, almost 
serpentine hold. But his grip was puny beside that 
of the burly American, who without apparent effort 
suddenly shook his assailant to the ground, where he 
lay with a couple of ribs broken. 

Clarke’s caution to the men to keep out of the fire¬ 
light had come none too soon, for as his friend freed 
himself from the Indian a flight of arrows from the 
river side of the camp whizzed through the air, and a 
groan from one of the soldiers showed that all had not 
missed their mark. A rapid order was given, and in a 
short time a dozen of the defenders were outside the 
camp, and fifty Indians were hemmed between the 
two little forces. 

“ Butt-ends ! Save your powder!” cried Lewis. 
The savages, unable now to use their bows to much 
advantage, fell back on their war-hatchets, but these 
were of little use against butted muskets or the skil¬ 
fully handled swords of the two officers. The Indians 
had begun to despair of help from allies who had either 
45 


VICTORY 


stayed away or had fled, and now endeavoured to force 
a way through the gaps in the two sparse lines. They 
disliked the situation greatly, and wished they had not 
come; for these pale-faces were hard men, who fought 
coolly and in dead silence, who were no whit frightened 
at their war-cries and antics, and who obeyed with, to 
them, inconceivable regularity the commands of the 
two terrible chiefs whose swords were playing such 
havoc among them. 

One of the more intrepid aimed a blow with his 
tomahawk at Captain Clarke, which was parried, and, 
the instant after, two others, armed with knives, made 
a dash at the swordsman. One reeled backwards on 
to the hot wood-ashes, felled by a blow on the face 
from Clarke’s hilt, and the other was shot through the 
head by the captain’s black servant. 

The Indians set up a despairing howl; this was not 
their style of fighting. Instead of surrounding they 
were the surrounded, and here were no convenient 
trees or bushes from behind which they could shoot at 
their ease. The howl waxed louder, and the attempts 
at flight more desperate, till at length all who could 
move had made their escape at weak points, and fled 
across the desert or into the water. 

“ I don’t think those individuals will call again,” 
remarked Lewis, as he bound up a knife-cut in his 
brother-officer’s arm. 

Nor did they; and once across the mountains, and 
arrived at a spot where reinforcements and supplies 
awaited the expedition, further danger from bisons, 
famine, or Indians was at an end. 

46 


CHAPTER IV 


A STATUE AT THEBES 

The Young Memnon—Giovanni Belzoni—Introduction to Mehemet 
Ali and Burckhardt—Up the Nile to Luxor—The artful 
Cacheff—Difficulties thrown in the way—The labourers—The 
help of the Evil One—A lesson in d3mamics—Getting out of 
the Memnonium—Fever—Desertion of the labourers—Fight 
with the Albanian foreman—More difficulties—The Kamsin— 
The Piedmontese expedition—Jealousy—The attempted as¬ 
sassination—Belzoni the conqueror—The embarkation. 

In one of the British Museum galleries is a colossal 
bust known as the “ Young Memnon,” or, more cor¬ 
rectly, Amenophis III. It was taken from the Mem¬ 
nonium near Thebes, and the reader may be interested 
to know the means whereby it left its desert home for 
Great Russell Street. 

In the early years of the last century a young Italian 
student, Giovanni Battista Belzoni, was, with many 
others, expelled from Rome by the French invasion. 
He came to London, and as he was six feet seven inches 
high, and of prodigious muscular power, had no 
difficulty in supporting himself by the public perform¬ 
ance of feats of strength. 

But his ambition rose somewhat above this occupa¬ 
tion, and he gave his leisure to constructing working 
models of hydraulic engines, to such good effect that 

47 


MEHEMET ALI AND BURCKHARDT 


he received a commission to proceed to Spain to set 
up an irrigating machine of his own patenting. 

From there he went to Alexandria and Cairo to 
undertake similar tasks for Mehemet Ali, the celebrated 
Albanian who was then the chief power in Eg3rpt, and 
who was desirous of introducing European methods 
and customs into the country. 

While in Cairo he made the acquaintance of Bruce’s 
great contemporary, Burckhardt, the German traveller 
and scholar, then occupied in arranging for the removal 
of statuary from Thebes to Alexandria for shipment to 
England and Italy. Through him Belzoni was ap¬ 
pointed to superintend the moving and embarkation 
of the Young Memnon. 

Travelling up the Nile, he landed at Luxor, and 
packing his slender stock of implements on camels, 
crossed the strip of desert that separates the river 
from the site of the ancient city. In those days 
such expeditions were by no means so well equipped 
as they should have been. All the resources at 
Belzoni’s command were his own servant, a Coptic 
janizary, fourteen scaffold-poles, four palm-leaf ropes, 
and four rollers, with an introduction to the CachefP, 
or Turkish magistrate, at the neighbouring town of 
Karnak, and power to engage Arab workmen—if he 
could. 

When a rough hut had been erected within the 
Memnonium and investigations made, he rode over to 
Karnak to interview the Cacheff. He was received 
with the utmost politeness, but when he asked for 
eighty labourers the Cacheff smiled discouragingly. 

48 


THE LABOURERS 


“ Just now all the men in the neighbourhood are 
already at work,” he said. 

Now, in Luxor and Karnak the young Italian had 
observed many hundreds of Abade Arabs, but not one 
of them was busy, not one looked as though he had 
ever done, or, by the aid of the Prophet, ever meant 
to do, a day’s honest work in his life. But, when this 
was hinted to the Cacheff, he blandly remarked that no 
Arab or fellah would ever be persuaded that the 
enormous head could ever be removed. 

“ Mehemet Ali thinks otherwise,” said Belzoni 
significantly. 

The mention of his superior had the effect of wringing 
a promise from the Turk that the men should be ready 
on the following day. Needless to say, they were not, 
and it was not till, after some weeks of being put off 
with idle excuses, Belzoni threatened to return to Cairo, 
and report the matter to the Pacha, that a few spiritless 
fellahin (boors, or drudges of the lowest caste) were sent. 

These, on the next day, were followed by their friends 
and relations, and a few Abade, who, seeing that work 
carefully undertaken did not kill, offered their services, 
and were engaged at the rate of thirty paras (fourpence- 
halfpenny) per day. 

Belzoni had already constructed a large and strong 
car by cutting up half a dozen poles and fastening 
them on the rollers, and this was now wheeled to where 
the Memnon lay. The next difficulty consisted in the 
fact that the labourers were as devoid of ideas as 
babies. When they were made to realize that the 
stone was to be got on to the car, they fell back in 
49 D 


A LESSON IN DYNAMICS 


horror ; the fellahin wept despairingly, and the Abade 
laughed jeeringly. Mortal hands lift such an object 
as that ? As well try to carry away the new mosque 
which the Cacheff was building ! 

Then, when a dozen or two of the more capable were 
persuaded by their Albanian foreman to approach the 
task, the truth broke in on Belzoni. These children of 
the desert had never seen leverage employed. All were 
tugging, in different directions, with their hands at 
the stone, and with faces wet with tears and perspira¬ 
tion mournfully announcing that no human power 
could ever stir it. 

“ Come out of the way, my children,” said the young 
Roman, laughing. “ I’m going to give you a lesson 
in mechanics. Some of you scoop the sand from under 
the edge of the stone to make room for these four 
poles.” 

This was done wonderingly. Was the Frangi giant 
going to crawl under the stone and lift it bodily ? 

In a short time levers and fulcrum—four poles and 
a loose slab of stone—were in order; a few men were 
told off to each pole and instructed to “ weigh down,” 
and the huge mass was raised without difficulty high 
enough for the car to be shpped under it. 

Slowly it dawned upon the labourers what they 
had done, and all fell back in astonishment. This man 
was a wizard, and the task had been accomphshed by 
the aid of the Evil One ! 

It was now sundown, and Belzoni called the men up 
to receive their day’s wages. If anything could sur¬ 
prise these fellows more than the lifting of the stone, it 
50 


GETTING OUT OF THE MEMNONIUM 


was that any employer of labour should dream of 
keeping his promise to pay them. Each man as he 
received the, to him, magnificent sum uttered a crow 
of surprise and delight; few of them had ever handled 
so much money at one time. Truly this giant was a 
great man, to be had in awe. 

But in the morning Belzoni began to repent his 
promptitude in paying : it had got about that there 
was money in the bust; how else could so much have 
been disbursed ? And the fellahin were strongly 
opposed to the removal of such wealth from their 
midst. It was only with the threat that no more paras 
should be forthcoming that they were persuaded to 
the task of moving the stone to the gateway of the 
Memnonium. 

This was no child’s play. The ground, even when 
cleared of the loose stones that cumbered it, was 
terribly uneven, and in one place so sandy that the 
car was crushed into the soil, and remained fixed there 
for several hours; and it was only after some days of 
patient labour that it was wheeled to the entry. Now 
came a fresh hindrance. Gauging it with his eye, 
Belzoni had calculated that there would just be room 
for the bust to pass between the two pillars, but when 
the space came to be measured it was found to be a 
foot too narrow. 

There was but one thing to do, and the doing thereof 
cut the Italian to the heart—to break down one of the 
pillars. Strangely enough, or perhaps not strangely, 
this piece of sacrilege, albeit it involved the expenditure 
of much energy on the part of the fellahin, seemed to 
51 D 2 


FIGHT WITH ALBANIAN FOREMAN 


give them more pleasure than any task they had yet 
undertaken. 

Belzoni’s immense labours, under an African sun 
at this time of the year, culminated in a fever, 
which confined him to his bed for some time, and 
when he returned to work the stone was where he 
had left it, and the men had returned to their 
homes. 

The janizary, when approached, was able to throw 
some light on this matter. The Albanian foreman, 
acting under the secret orders of the Cacheff, had dis¬ 
missed the fellahin. This individual was sent for, and 
asked for an explanation, and the greater the politeness 
and patience evinced by Belzoni, the more truculent and 
insolent became the Albanian. The fellahin, he said, 
were wanted elsewhere, and were not intended to be 
exclusively at one man’s beck and call. 

This was true in more senses than one, for a Pied¬ 
montese excavating expedition, which had been ex¬ 
pected for some time, had arrived, though Belzoni 
was not then aware of it. 

At length, when he saw that his master was not to 
be put off with bullying, the foreman drew his yataghan, 
or long knife, and made a dash at Belzoni. This was 
driving a patient man too far. There was a brief struggle; 
the knife was wrenched from the infuriated man, his 
pistols taken from him, and he thrown violently on to 
a rubbish-heap. 

The Italian dragged him to his feet again, and called 
the janizary. 

“ Take this man down to the river and ship him off 
52 


THE KAMSIn 


to Cairo to Mehemet Ali. He is to be shot if he 
attempts to escape.” 

The prospect of a visit to Mehemet Ali made 
the rebel tremble, and with tears and prayers he 
promised abject obedience for the future, till the 
easy-going Italian was persuaded to overlook the 
offence. 

The next week or more was passed in beating up a 
few frightened or unwilling recruits, a work of time, 
for the Cacheff, with the insane hatred of change or 
reform, and jealousy of the European, that dis¬ 
tinguishes most of the Eastern and Southern people, 
was busily and secretly occupied in throwing every 
obstacle in Belzoni’s way. Then, by the time a gang 
of men was raised, the Kamsin had begun its annual 
ravages, and the work could only be carried on at brief 
intervals. 

This wind, so called from the Arabic word for fifty, 
because it continues intermittently for that number of 
days, is very like to the whirlwind of Central Asia, but 
that it brings even more excessive heat in its train. 
Belzoni says of it : “It is troublesome even to the 
Arabs ; it forces the sand into houses, and obliges 
travellers to eat sand. Caravans cannot proceed in 
the desert, boats cannot continue their voyages. . . . 
Often a quantity of small stones and sand gradually 
ascends to great height, and forms a column sixty or 
seventy feet in diameter. This not only revolves 
within its own circumference, but runs in a circular 
direction over a great space of ground, sometimes main¬ 
taining itself in motion for half an hour, and where it 
53 


THE PIEDMONTESE EXPEDITION 


falls it accumulates a hill. God help the poor 
traveller who is caught under it!” 

Thus the days wore on, and at times it seemed as 
though the work would never be accomplished. For 
a whole week the stone would remain in one spot, mid¬ 
way between the ruin and the Nile, either with the car 
injured or imbedded, or else with the workmen 
deserting. 

Since the arrival of the Piedmontese expedition these 
desertions had been more than ever frequent. Men 
whom Belzoni had taken endless trouble to train, and 
to get into something like working order, were beguiled 
by ridiculous promises to join the staff of Drouetti 
(the Piedmontese) ; then, finding the promises hollow, 
they would either go home or return to their former 
and more reliable master. 

And meanwhile the time of the Nile’s overfiowing 
was at hand. Already the stone had reached a spot 
where, if it were not soon moved either back or to its 
barge, the first few days of inundation would bury it 
beyond hope of recovery. 

One evening, as Belzoni rode back from making 
somewhere about his fiftieth well-grounded complaint 
to the Cacheff, one of his fellahin came limping towards 
him, complaining that he had been ill-treated by 
Drouetti’s men, and that they had threatened to serve 
his master the same. 

“ Here they come !” he cried, interrupting himself 
to point to a gang of thirty Abade Arabs under the 
leadership of the two Piedmontese foremen, who were 
rapidly approaching. 


54 


THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION 


One of the latter seemed mad, either with drink or 
excitement. Seizing the bridle of the ass which Belzoni 
rode, he shouted : 

“ Get down. It is time we taught you"a lesson.” 

The Roman, despite his nationahty, was well known 
to be a mild type of man, and of the utmost forbearance. 
He said quietly : 

“ Let me pass, please. I am in a hurry.” 

For answer, the Piedmontese snatched a pistol from 
his belt, but before he could cock it, it was wrenched 
from his hand and flung far out of reach. 

Foaming with rage, the would-be assassin drew a 
second pistol. Belzoni sprang to the ground, knocked 
up the barrel as it exploded, and threw man and 
weapon into a sand-drift some yards away. But, before 
he could turn, a loud report sounded behind him, and 
a bullet whistled through his hat and hair. He swung 
round. The second Piedmontese was standing a few 
feet away holding a still smoking carbine, and urging 
the Abade to take up stones to throw at the giant. 
In a couple of strides Belzoni was on him, closed with 
him, and, wresting the carbine from his hand, dealt him 
three or four sounding blows with it across the back 
and shoulders; then, roused as thoroughly as only an 
habitually quiet man can be, he tossed the half-stunned 
foreman after his fellow, and, swinging his weapon by 
the muzzle, prepared to charge the Abade. 

This was not called for. One half of the Arabs 
dropped their missiles and fled, while the other half 
loudly cheered the giant, and began to close in 
threateningly round where the two Piedmontese lay. 

55 


BELZONI THE CONQUEROR 


At this moment Drouetti came up. His rival turned to 
him, and said with chill suavity : 

“ I congratulate you, signor, on your foremen. The 
very Arabs who work for them are ashamed of them.” 

The Piedmontese did not a second time presume on 
Belzoni’s gentleness of disposition. 

At length the bust was wheeled to the bank, a barge 
was drawn up to receive it, and a rough derrick con¬ 
structed for the hoisting of it. Belzoni stood looking 
with pride on the result of his labours, then shivered 
with apprehension as he reflected that the mass was 
not yet on board. If the ropes broke, or the men lost 
nerve, all his trouble would still have been in vain. 

The order to hoist was given. Gently cheering his 
men on, the Italian stood on the improvised landing- 
stage, guided the stone to its right position, and then 
gave the command to lower. The ropes slid round the 
derrick-reels, the unwieldy mass sank and sank, then 
came to rest. There was a cheer, followed by a scream 
of alarm. 

The bust had been deposited exactly in place, but 
the Arab boatmen in their excitement had worked 
their way to one side, and the barge was heehng in a 
most alarming way. Belzoni turned white as death ; 
there was the object of his weeks of persevering toil 
about to sink before his eyes. 

“ Right yourselves !” he yelled hoarsely ; “ jump 
into the water—anywhere.” What mattered the loss 
of a few Egyptian idlers in comparison with the sinking 
of the prize for which he had striven so hard ? 

The boat heeled till the gunwale’s edge touched the 
56 



An Anxious Moment 


Gently cheering his men on, the Italian stood on the improvised landing-stage and gave 
the command to lower. The ropes slid round the derrick-reels ; the unwieldy mass sank 
and sank, then came to rest. There was a cheer, followed by a scream of alatm. 
























I 





r 


• 4 





















THE EMBARKATION 


water, and the young man closed his eyes in terror, 
opening them again as almost simultaneously a trium¬ 
phant shout rose from the crew. They had dispersed, 
and the barge, after one or two ominous rocks from side 
to side, righted herself and trimmed to a nicety. The 
Young Memnon was embarked, Giovanni Belzoni’s 
task was completed, and he was free to proceed to 
the greater work which he afterwards achieved—the 
opening of the second Gizeh pyramid. 


57 


CHAPTER V 

CHASED BY BEDAWfN 

The Holy Land—Dr. Clarke’s expedition—^Nazareth—The Druses 
—The wilderness—Arab inquisitiveness—A timorous escort— 
The poHte guard—Alone in a perilous pass—The Bedawin 
—Fhght and pursuit—A mad ride—A respite—Followed by 
increased danger—Without hope—The saving bullet—The 
traitor still at large—Clarke’s disciplinary measures—And their 
unfortunate result—Culverhouse again to the rescue—Sus¬ 
pense—The enemy thrown—^Not safe yet—Mutiny—How 
Bertocino saved the party. 

The Holy Land falls naturally into two divisions : 
(1) A narrow plain, lying between the Mediterranean 
and a mountain belt parallel to the coast; (2) a wide 
desert tableland stretching from the dividing moun¬ 
tains to Arabia and the plain of the Euphrates. The 
whole country might almost be termed a wilderness 
with fertile intervals, for in addition to irreclaimable 
desert tracts much of the land is bare and unculti¬ 
vated owing to the indolence of the inhabitants, or 
(in the case of the plains of Hauran and Damascus) 
to the difficulty of proper irrigation. 

By its associations, historical and sacred, this country 
must ever attract the student and the pilgrim, and 
though the man who sets out in search of Greek 
58 


DR. CLARKE’S EXPEDITION 


inscriptions and early Judaic or Syrian remains is 
not supposed to court danger and adventure in the same 
degree as the explorer of some savage, unknown 
region, yet the experiences of Burckhardt, Layard, 
Burton, and many others, in countries once boasting 
an old civiHzation, have been exciting enough. 

A good instance of this is the journey of Dr. Edward 
Daniel Clarke, who, with his friend and pupil, John 
Cripps, landed at Acre early in the nineteenth century, 
and proceeded inland, hoping to carry on the work of 
Burckhardt in unearthing manuscripts, tablets, and 
statuary of bygone ages. 

He could scarcely have chosen a more inauspicious 
time, for one of the terrible Asiatic plagues was ravaging 
the towns, and the whole country was unsettled through 
the recent occupation by the French army, and by 
petty tribal warfare. 

The two scholars were accompanied by Captain 
Culverhouse, who commanded the frigate in which 
they had sailed, one of his officers, and Signor Bertocino, 
an Italian official, who, with the captain, was to inter¬ 
pret for the travellers. 

Threats of Arab violence were rife even before they 
left Acre, and the sight of a cohort of well-mounted 
Bedawin spearmen drawn up on the plain beyond 
warned Captain Culverhouse, who knew the country 
and its inhabitants with a more than ordinary know¬ 
ledge, that robbery and murder were to be apprehended 
unless they procured a suitable escort. Taking advan¬ 
tage, therefore, of Bertocino’s position, they approached 
a powerful Pacha, Djezzar by name, who consented to 
59 


NAZARETH—THE DRUSES 


give them a guard of five-and-twenty mounted men 
who would conduct them as far as the Plain of 
Esdraelon. 

Without meeting with any more extraordinary 
occurrence than trifling robberies by their own guard, 
or the false alarms which reheve desert travel of its 
monotony, they reached Nazareth, to find the plague at 
its worst. Fearful of the results of sleeping in the 
town, they sought a suburban hostelry, which had all 
the objectionable features and nope of the picturesque 
ones of the Syrian caravanserai; and high-slung ham¬ 
mocks were no refuge from the swarming vermin. 

From here they passed to the mountainous territory 
north-eastwards of the town, the desolate region in 
which St. John the Baptist’s youth was passed, and 
which is still called by the Arabs “ the Wilderness.” 
The track was stony and steep, and in places almost 
impassable, even though the men dismounted and led 
their horses or camels. But the downward incline 
led to a more promising district—the village of Hatti, 
where limes and lemons fiourished, a spot once desert, 
but reclaimed by the energy of the Druses. 

These interesting folk, who, now nearly a hundred 
thousand strong, inhabit the country between Lebanon 
and Hauran, are a mixed people, Arab and Persian, a 
sect of dissenters from medieval Mohammedanism. 
For nearly eight hundred years they have led an inde¬ 
pendent existence, warring periodically with the other 
Arabs, whose hereditary enemies they are. Their 
principal occupations are agriculture and silk manu¬ 
facture ; they are industrious, brave, and clean—three 
60 


THE WILDERNESS 


virtues unknown to the Arab at large; and, withal, 
temperate, proud, and cruel. It is generally said that 
they will eat nothing but what is the fruit of the 
labours of their own hands. 

The villagers turned out en masse at the arrival 
of the caravan—not to fight, but to gape ; and the 
travellers’ evening meal was partaken of under the 
shade of the trees in presence of every adult, child, 
and dog within a couple of miles. 

The next day’s journey was towards the Sea of 
Tiberias, across rock and sand unrelieved by any spot 
of green. By this time Clarke was in no mood to 
think of antiquities, for the heat was such that he was 
only too glad to dismount whenever a cave or sub¬ 
terranean hollow was reached, and to seek within its 
depths and recesses even a momentary haven from the 
blinding sunrays. To quote his own words : 

“ All the pleasure of travelling at this season of 
the year in the Holy Land is suspended by the exces¬ 
sive heat. A traveller, wearied and spiritless, is often 
more subdued at the beginning than at the end of his 
day’s journey. All Nature seems to droop ; every 
animal seeks for shade, which is extremely difficult to 
find. But the chameleon, the serpent, and all sorts of 
beetles, basking even at noon upon rocks and in sandy 
places, exposed to the most scorching rays, seem to 
rejoice in the greatest heat wherein it is possible to 
exist. It is probable that the desert offers them 
nourishment which they could not easily procure else¬ 
where.” 

Three hours of alternate marching and resting 
61 


ARAB INQUISITIVENESS 


brought the party to Lubi, a hill village, where again the 
populace evinced lively interest in the strangers and 
their doings. When, moreover, it was discovered that 
Bertocino and Culverhouse both spoke their language, 
tongues were loosed indeed, and the two Europeans 
were pelted with questions; for the Arab man has no 
equal in inquisitiveness, unless it be the Dutch 
woman. 

“ Where is your face ?” (“ Where are you going to ?”) 
“ Why are you going there ?” 

“ Where did you leave your wives 
“ How many brethren have you 
“ How comes it that you speak the Arab tongue, 
and your companions do not 

“ Is it true that a Frank has but one wife 
“ How old are you ?’’ 

“ What did you give in exchange for that gun 
These were but a few of the inquiries with which 
they were deluged, inquiries which the more reserved 
Clarke regarded as distinctly impertinent, but which 
the two interpreters, well acquainted with this besetting 
sin of the Arab, laughingly answered or parried. 

This pastime was abruptly ended by the arrival of 
some shepherds, who reported that a strong force of 
Bedawin was occupying the next ridge, and keeping 
a sharp look-out for any of Djezzar Pacha’s men who 
might be in the neighbourhood. 

The intelligence was received with a howl of dismay 
by the guard, and their officer explained that the troop 
to which they belonged had recently stolen several 
thousand cattle belonging to the hill tribesmen. 

62 


A TIMOROUS ESCORT 


Clarke was for moving forward, though Culverhouse 
and Bertocino were loth to risk such a venture, knowing 
how little the valour or fidelity of the escort was to 
be relied upon. 

The question was solved by the Arab officer, who 
flatly refused to lead his men to certain death. And 
the men were of his way of thinking, some so emphati¬ 
cally that they were already mounted and riding back, 
and Clarke was forced to return towards Nazareth in 
order to proceed by a safer route. 

At the caravanserai at which he passed the night, 
suffocating heat and various abominations made him 
so restless that at early morning he rose, saddled his 
horse, and telling his servant to inform the others 
that he had gone slowly ahead, started in the new 
direction for the Esdraelon Plain agreed upon on the 
previous night. He was already on the move when one 
of the escort came to him from the inn. Clarke had 
felt some interest in this man, for he understood French 
and was the least ruffianly looking and most polite of 
all the guards. 

“ I was to tell you from my officer,” he said in 
passable French, “ that the route decided upon last 
night is found to be beset with Bedawin. The only 
safe way is by the defile which you see across the plain. 
If we follow that, we shall very soon be beyond the 
mountains and out of reach of the enemy.” 

The EngHshman commended the officer’s vigilance, 
gave the man a tip, and began to walk his horse 
towards the spot indicated. No enemies were in sight, 
though from time to time during the long ride he 
63 


ALONE IN A PERILOUS PASS 


fancied that he saw moving figures on the mountain, 
and keen eyes peering from behind bush and boulder. 

At the mouth of the defile he halted and looked back. 
In his anxiety to get away from his pestilential lodging 
he had left his field-glass among Cripps’s luggage, and 
could not at this distance distinguish his friends from 
other bodies that moved near the caravanserai. There¬ 
fore he waited, reclining on the sand and eating his 
breakfast of bread and dates, till a hne of cavaliers, 
undoubtedly his own party, began to move towards 
him. He then remounted, and rode into the pass, 
which in places was so narrow that a horse could not 
turn round, while the heights on either side of it varied 
between a gentle slope up which at need a horse could 
gallop, and a steep that was almost a precipice. 

Twenty minutes of this dreary confinement, enliv¬ 
ened only by the sudden roll of a loose stone, or the 
rustle of a dry bush stirred by a fieeting wind-gust, 
made the lonely traveller long for the end of the ravine, 
and when another ten minutes saw him no nearer the 
open, he decided to turn back to meet the others. 
This was more easily said than done, for just here there 
was not room for one horse to pass another, and the 
precipitous mountain side forbade his horse’s turning. 
But, fifteen yards further on, the path basined out into 
a fairly broad road. 

He had scarcely had time to remark this when, round 
the bend beyond the point where the pass broadened, 
there came the stamp and jingle of a considerable 
body of cavalry approaching him. He could not yet 
see them, but, whatever else they might be, he felt sure 
64 


THE BEDAWlN 


that they were no friends of his, and he quickened his 
pace towards the “ turning ” spot. He was still twenty 
feet from this when, with lances couched, a troop of 
ferocious-looking Bedawin came lightly cantering into 
view. His heart began to beat unevenly ; for at least 
a few seconds he must contribute towards his own 
danger by lessening the distance between himself and 
the opposing force. He set his horse at the gallop, 
and, before the Bedawin could do likewise, had reached 
a part broad enough in which to turn. 

Without waiting for a closer inspection of the new¬ 
comers, he swung the horse round and set off in full 
retreat, the quickened rattle behind him warning him 
that it would be well to make all speed. Well it was 
for him that the pass was throughout more or less on 
the curve, so that anyone riding but a few yards ahead 
was generally out of sight—and gunshot—of a pursuer. 

Now gaining on him, now seeming to fall back, and 
yet once again pressing nearer, the sounds of horses’ 
hoofs and men’s execrations followed him hard, and he 
spurred his horse forward till it foamed and stumbled 
in its excitement, and threatened at every step to fall 
headlong over some projecting flint. 

Now there was a scuffling and prancing in the rear, 
as though one horseman were trying to push by 
another in the straitness of the defile. 

It seemed as though the plain would never be 
reached ; every moment became an hour, every yard a 
mile, every ten-yard space of straight road a free 
passage for bullet or javelin from those in chase. 
But at last Clarke drew a long breath of relief ; there, 
65 


E 


FLIGHT AND PURSUIT 


but a stone’s-cast in front, was the point where he 
had first noticed the gentler, sideward slope of the 
mountain; the entrance to the pass was scarcely 
fifty yards beyond it; and once more he urged his 
horse on. 

But the galloping behind did not abate ; it increased 
rather, and already in imagination he felt himself 
pierced with bullets and spearheads. An unlooked-for 
yet very natural accident befriended him, for a shout 
from behind, and the metallic irregular clatter of hoofs 
drawn forcibly together, announced that a horse was 
staggering, and trying to regain his footing. Then 
came another shout, and simultaneously the thud of a 
heavy body falling, faintly audible to Clarke above 
the ringing of his own horse’s hoofs. He ventured a 
glance round ; he could see no one, but the cessation 
of the pursuit told him that the foremost horse had 
fallen in the narrowest part of the ravine, blocking the 
way to all who followed. 

As if security renewed his vigour, the fugitive’s horse 
plunged forward again, but in an instant, with no 
other warning than a whinny of fright, he half stumbled 
and shied violently, nearly throwing his rider. 

Clarke was about to call out soothingly to the 
startled beast, when the cause of the fright, becoming 
apparent, struck him with surprise and horror. Coming 
to meet him down the slope on his left front were two 
brigands riding at a moderate trot as though sure of 
their prey. He tried to call for aid, but all his breath 
seemed to have gone out in sudden alarm. 

He let the horse slacken the pace ; of what use was 
66 



A Saving Bullet 

He had halt closed his eyes, expecting death, when the hills echoed and re-echoed 
with a sudden and startling explosion. 














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THE SAVING BULLET 


it to hurry ? The enemy had him at their mercy ; they 
had already reached the bottom, and had only to wait 
for him to come up. They were armed with muskets 
and spears ; he with an umbrella and a notebook. The 
instinct of self-preservation made him look wildly 
round for a place of refuge. There was none; not a 
crevice in which to hide, not a side-path up which he 
could climb out of reach of the long-barrelled Arab 
guns ; he was caught as in a trap. 

Less than ten yards separated them now. The 
Bedawin both broke into a scornful laugh, and, half 
reining up, levelled their lances, and shouted in a 
menacing tone words that he could not translate 
literally though their purport was uncomfortably clear. 
Once more he tried to cry out, but his lips were dumb 
and his throat paralyzed. 

He had half closed his eyes, expecting death, when the 
hills echoed and re-echoed with a sudden and startling 
explosion. One of the Bedawin fell in a heap on the 
ground, and the other, followed by his friend’s horse, 
clattered up the hill and out of sight over the lowest 
ridge. 

Clarke rubbed his eyes as one waking out of a 
nightmare, and saw twenty yards behind where the 
brigands had stood another riderless horse, and at its 
head his friend Oulverhouse holding a still smoking 
rifle. 

Neglectful of the fallen brigand, he hurried towards 
the Captain, inclined almost, in the exuberance of his 
relief, to fall on his friend’s neck. Culverhouse, with 
characteristic Anglo-Saxon dislike of “ scenes,” cut 

67 E 2 


THE TRAITOR STILL AT LARGE 


short his friend’s expression of gratitude, remounted, 
and led the way slowly towards the plain, meanwhile 
offering an explanation. 

The very polite Arab who understood the French 
language had, it appeared, leagued himself with the 
enemy, and, in the intervals of communication with 
them, occupied his time with undermining the fidelity 
of his comrades, urging them to join in a plot to poison 
their officer, and go over in a body to the enemy, at the 
same time betraying the Frangy strangers into their 
hands. 

One of the escort, more loyal than his fellows, had 
warned the officer; and subsequently Culverhouse, 
finding that Clarke had already fallen into the trap, 
had ridden after him to try and save him. 

Loud cheers greeted the pair as they rejoined the 
main body at the head of the ravine, and Bertocino 
was about to lead the way across the lower-lying hill, 
when Clarke observed with amazement that the 
treacherous Arab was in the ranks as usual, bland, 
smiling, armed, and free. 

“ What! Is that rascal to go unpunished ?” he 
asked of Captain Culverhouse. 

“ H’sh ! That ’ll be all right when we reach Esdra- 
elon,” was the answer. “ The officer knows what 
he’s doing. If that fellow liked, he could still stir up a 
mutiny. As soon as we reach Djezzar’s camp he’ll be 
given up to justice—if he doesn’t escape.” 

“ Escape ?” The sense of his wrongs, wrought by 
the machinations of this smooth-tongued scoundrel, 
goaded the habitually peaceful, scholarly traveller to 
68 


CLARKE’S DISCIPLINARY MEASURES 


sudden fury. “ He shall not escape me he shouted 
angrily, and riding straight at the delinquent bestowed 
half a dozen sturdy thwacks across his shoulders with 
his folded, whalebone-ribbed umbrella. 

Young Cripps and the naval lieutenant burst into 
a roar of laughter, but Bertocino looked grave, and 
Culverhous© shouted wrathfully : 

“ Come back, you old ass ! you’ll get us all 
massacred.” 

The confusion and uproar that ensued among the 
guard was beyond description. 

“ The infidel has smitten a believer—kill him !” 
cried first one, then all; and Clarke began to see that 
he had made a terrible blunder. 

The offended Arab was livid and trembling with 
passion, so much so that he could scarce control himself 
while he unslung his carbine. 

“ Death—death to the infidel!” vociferated the 
guards, closing in on the offender. 

No on© seemed very certain what to do, except 
Clarke, who, as the incensed Arab levelled his piece, 
slipped out of his saddle and sought shelter among the 
legs of the horses. The guard, his aim thus spoiled, 
also sprang to the ground to pursue, pointing his gun 
under the horses’ bellies or between their feet, when¬ 
ever he could get momentary sight of his foe, then, 
unsuccessful still, and utterly beside himself with fury, 
turned his aim on Bertocino, then on his officer, while 
the crowd yelled the louder : 

“ Death to the infidel! death to all infidels !” 

And now Clarke’s evil star prompted him in his fright 
69 


CULVERHOUSE AGAIN A RESCUER 


to flee into the open. He did so, and was soon at the 
mercy of the first tolerable marksman who should elect 
to make a target of him. His assailant gave a grunt 
of exultation, and darted round Captain Culverhouse’s 
horse in order that nothing might intercept his aim. 

But Culverhouse thought the quarrel had gone far 
enough, and regarded the Arab’s sudden proximity to 
him as too good a chance to be wasted. Springing 
lightly from his saddle he suddenly confronted the 
maniac, and caught the gun-barrel in his right hand, 
nearly overthrowing its owner with the shock. 

The Arab jerked, pulled, foamed at the mouth, but 
Culverhouse, instead of letting go, brought his other 
hand into the service, and seized the slender portion 
of the butt in a firm grasp. And then the conflict 
began. The Captain was burly and heavy, and no 
novice in wrestling ; his antagonist so slightly built 
that every now and then he was swung off his feet in 
the struggle, yet wiry and agile as a wild-cat, and of 
incredible strength of wrist and arm. 

For nigh two minutes the issue seemed doubtful, and 
on it hung so much—the safety of Clarke, if not of all 
the other Europeans ; for already the officer could not 
make his voice heard above the clamour, and it was only 
by standing between the escort and the combatants, 
and threatening to shoot the first man who ventured 
nearer, that Bertocino and the naval lieutenant could 
save Culverhouse from being surrounded and overcome. 

Beginning to despair of freeing his gun, the Arab 
started on a new manoeuvre ; his hand was still on the 
lock of the weapon, and he now strove might and 
70 


THE ENEMY THROWN 


main to turn the muzzle on some part of his opponent’s 
body. But already strength and staying power were 
telling in the Captain’s favour. Quick to observe the 
change of tactics, he let go his right-hand hold, and in 
a moment regained it higher up the barrel, then, 
profiting by his superior height and longer reach, gave 
a sudden twist with both hands that wrenched the 
weapon free, and threw the Arab to the ground with 
terrific force. 

In all ages a hair’s weight has been enough to turn 
the balance of opinion in a mob. Seeing their comrade 
down and helpless, the other guards straightway altered 
their cry, and clamoured for his death. 

‘‘ He’d be no loss,” hinted Bertocino to the officer; 
but the latter shook his head. 

“ I know my men,” he said. “ If I have him shot, 
in five minutes they will say that I killed a true believer 
for the sake of an infidel, and my own life will be in 
danger ; ” and he returned to the business of pacifying 
his men. In the hope of effecting a compromise, he 
ordered the offending Arab to be tied in his saddle, and 
placed in the custody of two men; then, when everyone 
was again mounted, he gave the order to march. 

But the trouble was not ended. Muttered execra¬ 
tions were heard from the guard, the murmurs grew to 
angry and loud argument, and, instead of the orders 
being obeyed, spears were suddenly couched or pistols 
cocked—some at the prisoner, others at the officer. 
Public opinion was evidently divided—half for mutiny, 
half in favour of the prisoner’s death. 

Clarke tore his hair and raged at his folly in inter- 
71 


HOW BERTOCINO SAVED THE PARTY 


fering with the course of justice. At this rate their 
destination would never be reached, and only by luck 
could his and his friends’ lives and property be saved, 
for at any moment they were liable to attack from the 
Bedawin, who were most likely keen observers from 
their mountain seclusion of all that was passing. 

It fell to Bertocino to save the situation—and by 
an ingenious device. All at once he snatched a spear 
from the nearest soldier, and, shouting what seemed 
like an Arab war-whoop, spurred his horse to the gallop 
up the hill, at the same time throwing up his weapon 
and deftly catching it again. In an instant the 
astonished Englishmen saw every man of the guard 
turn to follow this example—everyone setting off at 
the gallop, shouting merrily, throwing lances high in 
the air and catching them again, each rider trying to 
outpace his fellow and excel him in dexterity. 

The keen-witted Italian, well used to Arab customs 
and amusements, and an expert in their sports, had 
had the presence of mind to fix on the game known as 
djirit, dear to the heart of the Syrian, and a challenge 
to which none could refuse. Still leading the way 
across hill and valley he carried on the contest, and only 
stopped when horses were breathless and men so far 
restored to good-humour that they loudly hailed 
Bertocino as a born brother, and far too good a fellow 
for a mere Frangy infidel. 

The influence thus gained, Bertocino very wisely kept 
till the journey ended at Djezzar’s camp, where the 
French-speaking Arab was promptly handed over to his 
superiors to be dealt with according to law—Arab law. 

72 


CHAPTER VI 


WITH A PILGRIM CARAVAN 

A Mohammedan pilgrimage—Sir Robert Ker Porter, artist and 
traveller—A caravanserai and its inmates—The pilgrim band 
and the loafers—The artist’s attempt at escape—A hot morning 
in the desert—Another caravanserai—The chawosh —His pro¬ 
posal and conversation—Through the enemy’s country—The 
attack—Behaviour of the chawosh and pilgrims—Dispersal of 
the enemy—Kerbela and the shrine of Houssein. 

Although, among the Western nations, the religious 
instinct which formerly bade men travel many hundreds 
of miles to visit some holy place in the spirit of devotion 
or of penitence seems to be dying, yet, in the East, 
pilgrimages continue to be as much a recognised part 
of the business of life as they were aforetime. Every 
year thousands of Mohammedans still flock to Mecca, 
to Kerbela, and to various other spots held sacred by 
them as being the burial-places of the saints and 
doctors of their religion. Men, women, and children, 
some on foot, others mounted on camels, horses, or 
mules, indifferent to weariness and hard fare, and 
indeed to all else but the assaults of brigands or wild 
beasts, will patiently traverse the African or Asiatic 
deserts for the sake of praying at the shrine of 
Mohammed, Hassan, or Houssein, or for the privilege 

73 


SIR ROBERT KER PORTER 


of laying their bones in the same earth which contains 
the ashes of these venerated Mussulman teachers or 
heroes. 

It was among such a body of pilgrims that Sir Robert 
Ker Porter, one of the eminent painters of the early 
nineteenth century, and brother to the authoress of 
“ The Scottish Chiefs,” suddenly found himself. 
Starting from St. Petersburg he had journeyed through 
the Caucasus to Teheran, and on to Ispahan (thus 
covering in an opposite direction much of the ground 
over which the Hon. George Keppel passed six years 
later), and now, after a lengthy stay in the latter town, 
was proceeding towards Baghdad, the metropolis of the 
Mesopotamian Plain. 

Knowing something of the perils of the way, he had 
provided himself, in addition to his body-servants, 
with an escort of fifteen Persian musketeers. The road 
for the most part lay low, banked on either side by 
ranges of gently sloping hills (at times lofty enough to 
merit the title of mountains), which parted here and 
there in rocky glens, deserted save by an occasional 
eagle, jackal, or leopard. 

As they rounded one of the multitudinous curves of 
this road. Sir Robert and his companions came sud¬ 
denly upon the rear of a pilgrim caravan, whence the 
chanting, gun-firing, and shouting which for some time 
had roused his curiosity proceeded. Unwilling to 
make closer acquaintance with this motley crowd, he 
led his servants forward at a smart trot, not stopping 
till the caravanserai, or inn, for which his guides had 
been making, was reached. 

74 


A CARAVANSERAI AND ITS INMATES 


All Eastern caravanserai are pretty much alike, 
differing, perhaps, only in degrees of dirt and dis¬ 
comfort. In form they are generally square, enclosing 
within their four blocks, or wings, a large open space 
similar to the quadrangle of some of our colleges, in 
which the camels or horses of lodgers are penned for 
the night. In the centre of this space is invariably a 
well or fountain. The four wings are sometimes 
merely broad passages open to the enclosure, but more 
frequently are partitioned off into a number of tiny, 
door less chambers. 

Hither the guest must bring not only his own food 
but also his bed and bedding. Often no charge for 
lodging is made in these establishments, their erection 
and maintenance being regarded as a work of piety 
and public charity. Doubtless it is to such a hostelry 
as this that allusion is made in the Gospel account of 
the Nativity. 

As a rule these places are unspeakably filthy and 
verminous, and Sir Robert Porter found that the one 
which his servants had chosen was no exception. He 
could, however, obtain some sort of privacy, for there 
was an upper floor from which a traveller whose tastes 
happened to be non-gregarious could look down and 
philosophize on Persian notions as to cleanliness and 
the fitness of things. At this time in the afternoon 
the courtyard and interior were filled with knots of 
idlers who, having no more profitable occupation, 
seemed to be improving the shining hour by taking 
note of all new arrivals, in many cases with a 
view to subsequent plunder. Sir Robert gives us 
75 


THE PILGRIMS AND THE LOAFERS 


a portrait of one of these energetic and industrious 
beings : 

“ He wore neither shirt nor trousers over his tall, 
lean, dun-coloured person ; a loose sort of wrapper of 
coarse brown camlet or cloth was his sole garment, 
fastened round the waist by a strap or cord. A red 
skull-cap fitted the head, wound scantily about with a 
strip of dirty linen. (They seldom wear shoes, but never 
stir out without a huge club-headed weapon in their 
hands or stuck in their girdle.) To this barbarian garb 
was added a ferocious countenance of hard, aquiline 
features, a sallow, sun-burnt complexion, and dark, 
hollow eyes, looking scowlingly under their brows, or 
with an expression, arch and knavish to a degree, of 
wanton mischief.” 

Such was the stamp of idler that swarmed round all 
day long, unmoved either by prayers, curses, or threats. 
While the artist was wondering whether anything 
short of a bayonet charge would rid the inn of these 
pests, a blowing of horns, ringing of bells, and firing of 
muskets announced that the pilgrim crowd had come 
up with him, and had every intention—some of them, 
at least—of sleeping under the same roof with him. 

With but lukewarm gratitude for this doubtful 
honour he stood at his rough balcony, anxious to see 
what effect the invasion would produce on the non¬ 
toiling, non-spinning gentry in the yard. He could 
have asked no better result. The pilgrim-wave surged 
in, squeezing and hustling the interlopers through the 
different exits, even as a broom sweeps away dirt. 
After performing this scavenger-like office, a hundred 
76 


THE ARTIST’S ATTEMPT AT ESCAPE 


or so of the new-comers, having found accommodation 
for themselves and their beasts, betook themselves to 
domestic duties, while the rest were forced to content 
themselves with tents pitched outside. 

The interior of the caravanserai now began to present 
an appearance of bustle and tumult, fascinating—even 
if objectionable—to the Western eye. Sir Robert 
Porter observes : 

“ The cell-like ranges of the arcades which lined the 
building, and the square in the centre, were filled with 
multitudes of persons of every hue, dress, and calling, 
Turks, Persians, Arabs, Kurds, and Indians being the 
component parts of this pilgrim army ; and the variety 
of their costume, manners, and occupations produced 
groups the most singular, and often grotesque, imagina¬ 
tion can conceive. Some were cooking, others pray¬ 
ing ; some feeding their lean cattle, others their hungry 
selves. Here sat a group furbishing their firearms ; 
there, clusters of people smoking, drinking coffee, or 
sleeping. In one place stood mules and horses, 
mingled with men and baggage ; in another lay coffins, 
women, and children.” 

Desirous of ridding himself of such neighbours as 
soon as possible, the traveller set off at a very early 
hour in the morning, thinking to put a few miles 
between himself and the pious mob ; but, within an 
hour or two after sunrise, the heat and glare grew so 
blinding that progress became more and more im¬ 
possible. So fierce was it that the graduated slips of 
ivory on the painter’s thermometer curled up like 
clock-springs, snapping the glass tube. Moreover, the 
77 


ANOTHER CARAVANSERAI 


surface of the country had again changed, becoming a 
wide, flat tract of dazzling sand. By midday the 
party arrived at another and smaller caravanserai, 
situated at the side of a valley in which a few blades 
of grass made a struggle for existence. Lest going 
further might mean faring worse. Sir Robert resolved 
to stay here—at least, till midnight. 

Here were fewer idlers, and the traveller, thankful 
for small mercies, lay down for a siesta. But his rest 
was soon rudely broken by the shouts of muleteers 
and camel-drivers, and, looking out, he saw that his 
friends of the previous night had tracked him to his 
lair. 

“ The whole valley was covered with the tents of 
the pilgrims, for a very few could And lodgings in the 
building. These several encampments, according to 
their towns or districts, were placed a little apart, 
each under its own especial standard. Their cattle 
were grazing about, and the people who attended 
them were in their primitive Eastern garb. Women 
appeared carrying water, while children were sporting 
at the tent-doors. Towards evening this pious multi¬ 
tude began their evening orisons, literally shouting 
their prayers, while the singing of the hymns, responded 
to by the echoes from the mountains, was almost 
deafening. At intervals during the devotion match¬ 
locks, muskets, and pistols were repeatedly fired, as 
though in concerted signal.” 

As night drew on, this persistent dogging of his foot¬ 
steps was explained. He received a visit from the 
chawosh, or leader of the holy caravan, who begged 
78 


THE CHAWOSH 


to be informed as to the hour at which Sir Robert 
intended resuming his journey, backing the inquiry 
with the extraordinary request that the Englishman 
would take the pilgrim band under his protection, as 
the next few miles of the route were certain to be 
beset by brigands. The astonished painter mildly 
hinted that a body over eleven hundred strong could 
scarcely need the help of another composed of less 
than two dozen ; but the Oriental was not to be gain¬ 
said. He insisted that there was safety in numbers. 

“ Ah !” he cried; “it is right we should travel 
together, for I know the Frangy (Franks) never give 
up quietly, and though I cannot boast of the pilgrims’ 
standing fire very resolutely, you may rely on my 
steadiness.” 

He had, he said, conducted nineteen pilgrimages to 
Kerbela and Mesched Ali, “ out of which I have only 
had the misfortune to fall in with thieves ten times, 
and then escaped tolerably well, except once.” 

To judge, however, by the old gentleman’s story, 
his own escapes had not saved the women and invalids 
from brutal ill-usage at the hands of the brigands, nor 
the baggage and valuables from confiscation ; but, so 
long as he and the other men got away with whole 
skins, this hoary egoist seemed content to leave the 
fate of women and babies to Providence. 

“ The attack I call the worst,” he continued, “ hap¬ 
pened some years ago, when Kelb Ali and his Fielly 
tribe* used to come into these parts and make all fiy 

* The murderers of Captain Grant and Mr. Fotheringham, of 
Sir John Malcolm’s embassy. 


79 


THE -CHAWOSH 


before them. I lost my horse, and was stripped and 
left for dead amongst two hundred others who actually 
were slain.” 

Having no reasonable excuse for refusing, and 
feeling a vague interest in the march of the pilgrims. 
Sir Robert soothed the old man with coffee and com¬ 
pliments, and promised that, until they had passed 
the perilous district through which lay the morrow’s 
line of march, he would remain with the caravan. 

Soon after midnight the cTiawosh called together his 
followers and delivered in a high, resonant voice, a 
kind of sermon—a mixture really of prayers, pious 
ejaculations, directions for the conduct of the march, 
and flattering allusions to their new allies, terminating 
in the injunction : “ Keep together and fear nothing, 
for God is great!” Sir Robert signed to his muleteer 
to make ready, and soon the entire company was 
en route. 

As the daylight advanced, the chawosh gave evidence 
of possessing some rudimentary notions of generalship 
by sending on a body of men to act as advance-guard. 
Furthermore, he put himself at the head of a few 
picked men to serve as right-wing scouts ; sent others, 
under the leadership of a trustworthy Persian, to 
perform a similar duty on the left; finally, he asked 
the English artist to take charge of the remaining 
pilgrims, pointing out that, in the event of a sudden 
attack, the new commander’s principal task would be 
to prevent the whole tribe from fleeing in every direc¬ 
tion. Sir Robert’s force is best described in his own 
words : 


80 


THROUGH THE ENEMY’S COUNTRY 


“ The motley crew over whom I was thus left tem¬ 
porary leader showed as great variety of arms as of 
habits. Some carried matchlocks, others pieces of 
more modern fashion; and the rest pistols, swords, 
daggers, knives, and club-like staves. Indeed, both 
in number and equipment they presented so formidable 
an appearance that I could not conceive it possible 
that a score or two of half-naked Arabs—the usual 
complement of any single band of these wild free¬ 
booters—armed, perhaps, with only a dozen of spears 
and as many long guns, could put an atom of alarm 
into so multitudinous an array.’* 

Yet a few minutes of their society speedily unde¬ 
ceived him. Regardless of his commands or prohibi¬ 
tions, the men fired off their guns at their own sweet 
will, aiming in any and every direction, till Sir Robert 
would wilhngly have surrendered his place at the head 
of the column to anyone possessed of more ambition, 
or more taste for being shot from behind. In despair, 
he rode over to where the chawosh was ambling along 
at his ease, and pointed out that the probable cost at 
which this pyrotechnic display was being carried on 
was the effectual rousing of all the brigands within 
miles of them, and that, in any case, it was a sinful 
waste of good ammunition. 

But the chawosh had ideas on the proper conduct of 
a pilgrimage, and had begun to dilate on the wisdom of 
letting it be known to all and sundry that his followers 
had firearms, and knew how to use them, when the truth 
of the Englishman’s words was made all too apparent. 
A shout of warning rose from the left wing, echoed 
81 F 


THE ATTACK 


by screams from the women at the end of the line ; 
half a dozen pistol-shots sounded in quick succession, 
followed by louder screams, preluding a general clamour 
and uproar ; yet all, so far as could be seen from the 
right wing, for no cause. The caravan was in a zig¬ 
zag road, so that it was impossible to let the front files 
know what the rear files did. But, as a matter of fact, 
the front files were satisfied to remain in ignorance of 
everything but the great, central truth—that the 
enemy was upon them ; and, with all speed, they gal¬ 
loped forward, leaving the rear to fight its own battles, 
only, alas ! to colhde with the advance-guard, which 
came careering back, shouting that the robbers were 
pursuing them. 

What had happened was this : the enemy, cunning, 
intelligent, and well versed in the strategic methods of 
pilgrims, chawoshes, and the like, had spread themselves 
into small parties, so as to be able to attack any point 
of the caravan at a given signal. One portion had 
suddenly charged the rear end of the column where the 
women were, knowing that their screams would alarm 
the bulk of the pilgrims, spreading confusion and pan¬ 
demonium generally ; then, when the front files took 
to their heels, another small band had appeared from 
a cleft, neatly filling the gap left between the two halves 
of the ragged army ; while third, fourth, and fifth con¬ 
tingents respectively headed off the advance-guard, and 
hemmed in the van from both left and right. 

At the sudden appearance of a troop of these ruffians 
on the ground left vacant by the retreat of the advance- 
guard, a hollow, tremulous cry, heart-rending in its 
82 


THE -CHAWOSH” AND PILGRIMS 


despairing helplessness, rose from the whole pilgrim 
army. Everyone reined up ; everyone seemed stupe¬ 
fied with terror. The cry sank to a low wail, swelling 
again to a startled yell, as a few of the bolder spirits 
found resolution to break away, in the hope of finding 
a hiding-place among the hills. 

And now, by way of adding to the confusion, the 
chawosh and his picked men, instead of opposing the 
right-hand body of brigands, who remained grimly 
motionless like tigers preparing to spring, huddled 
round Porter and his little band, paralyzing for a time 
any offensive movement the latter might make. Deaf 
to Sir Robert’s shouts to him to clear a way for him 
and his men, the chawosh directed his attention to the 
fleeing pilgrims, who, when once they found courage to 
stir from the spot, were dispersing in every direction, 
leaving women, beasts, and baggage to fend for them¬ 
selves—some running towards the creeks and ravines, 
others aimlessly seeking an outlet between the clusters 
of robbers. 

“ Come back ! come back !” yelled the chawosh, and 
yelled in vain. The fugitives wanted to get out of 
sight of these merciless foes, and chose to risk their 
chances among eagles and leopards rather than to be 
butchered wholesale by the fierce desert tribes. 

At length, seeing that the Englishman had his own 
little body-guard in perfect control, and was prepared 
to cut through the opposing force in front, the chawosh 
seemed to pluck up heart a little, and, neglecting the 
more distant runaways, besought those whom his voice 
could reach to follow the Frangy leader. 

83 f2 



DISPERSAL OF THE ENEMY 


Sir Robert, albeit an artist and a man of peace, was 
neither a coward nor altogether a novice in the art of 
war. In addition to being a keen sportsman, a crack 
shot, and a fearless horseman, he had followed, in his 
capacity of historical painter, a good part of the Penin¬ 
sular Campaign, and had been with Sir John Moore at 
Coruna. 

Having shaken off the embarrassing attentions of 
the chawosJi and his friends, he told his men to fire a 
volley into the brigands ahead of them, and to prepare 
to charge the moment after firing. The order was 
obeyed, but when the leader, sword in hand, spurred 
forward at the head of his band, there was nothing to 
charge ; several of the robbers had dropped, dead or 
wounded, and the rest, unused to, and unprepared for, 
anything like systematic opposition, immediately either 
fied, panic-stricken, or turned their attention to pur¬ 
suing such of the pilgrims as would be most easily 
overtaken. 

As soon as he saw the majority in safety. Sir Robert 
prepared to lead his little troop back to drive off the 
rear attack ; but just then a larger band of horsemen 
came into view over the crest of the hill ahead, and 
waited as though they formed part of the hostile army. 
Having given his men time to reload, he led what 
remained of the whole caravan forward at the gallop. 
The new contingent allowed them to come within gun¬ 
shot ; but, when they saw that they had organized 
resistance to face, contented themselves with firing a 
few harmless shots at the advancing column, and then 
disappeared among the hills. 

84 



A Caravan attacked by Arabs on the Mesopotamian Plain 

Several of the robbers had dropped, dead or wounded, and the rest, unused to and 
unprepared for anythinit like systematic opposition, immediately either Hed, jianic- 
stricken, or turned their attention to pursuing such of the pilgrims as would be most 
easily overtaken. 










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THE SHRINE OF HOUSSEIN 


The chawosh, with many tears of gratitude, now took 
temporary leave of his defender, saying that he would 
have to ride back to bring on the women and wounded. 

As Sir Robert drew near to Kerbela, those of his 
servants who were Mussulmans asked and obtained 
leave to accompany some of the pilgrims to their 
destination—the shrine of Houssein, one of the grand¬ 
sons of Mohammed, slain after a heroic fight near 
Kerbela in the year 680 , and revered by Mohammed’s 
followers as a martyr. Some time later, when Porter 
reached Erivain, he found the city in mourning—cries 
and lamentations proceeding from every house—and 
learned that it was the season of the annual wailing for 
Houssein and his brother Hassan, so revered is the 
memory of these two grandchildren of the prophet. 

When in the evening the servants returned from 
their devotions, they brought their master some sacred 
cakes, made from the earth on which the martyr’s 
tent had stood. This earth was eagerly purchased by 
the pilgrims, who believed it to be endowed with 
miraculous properties ; and for the right of burial 
near the shrine of Houssein extravagant prices were 
being offered. 

In Kerbela Sir Robert bade farewell to his pilgrim 
friends, and, making the acquaintance of a powerful 
Pasha who was proceeding to Baghdad, gladly accepted 
his escort thither, accounts being rife of pillage and 
slaughter by brigands—and thus arrived safely at his 
journey’s end. 


85 


CHAPTER VII 

IN THE REGION OF DEATH 

The Thar —Colonel Tod—A terrible descent—Carey’s fate—Lost 
—The native soldiers—Good news—Alive again !—A native 
squabble—Frost—The see-Tcote —Accident to Captain Waugh— 
A magnanimous tiger and his nephews—Cholera !—Treachery 
—The bear-hunt—Saved by a native—Another accident to 
the Colonel. 

To the north-west of India lies a large district con¬ 
sisting of Native States known by the collective name of 
Rajputana. At the present day its northern portion, 
to the extent of nearly eighty thousand square miles, 
is a huge desert known as the Thar or “ Maroost’hali ” 
(“the Region of Death”). Its inhabitants are hyenas, 
wolves, jackals, and desert foxes ; its soil, rock or sand ; 
its vegetation, small trees or shrubs ; its water, an 
unknown quantity, rarely to be found at less than 
sixty feet from the surface, except on the oases, or 
Vhul, 

The greater part of this is, no doubt, irreclaimable; 
yet, less than a hundred years ago, the Thar was nearly 
twice its present size, being surrounded on three sides 
by a sort of outer desert of arid plain, poisonous marsh, 
and tiger-haunted jungle and mountain-gorge. 

86 


COLONEL TOD 


Much of this outer land had become waste through 
the petty warfare of native Princes ; much, again, 
through the indolence of the villagers, who, so long as 
their simple daily needs were supplied, lacked the 
energy to redeem ground that was well capable of 
cultivation. 

But there were in India many British officials who 
had eyes to see that, despite Company misrule and the 
t 3 rranny of native Princes, farms and corn-fields might 
be made to cover these deserted regions; that the 
jungle and its inmates might be abolished, the marshes 
drained, and the rocks built upon. Foremost among 
these pioneers of civilization was Colonel James Tod, 
who in 1818, after the Rajput chiefs had accepted the 
protective alliance offered them by Government, was 
appointed political agent for the Western States. So 
successful was he in this capacity that, within a few 
years, three hundred deserted villages had become 
repeopled, and many thousand acres of waste ground 
reclaimed. 

But to achieve such a result a thorough knowledge 
of the district was necessary, and this Tod gained by 
a careful tour of inspection which occupied most of 
his term of office. 

Accompanied by his cousin—Captain Waugh, a 
young army surgeon named Duncan, and Lieutenant 
Carey, and protected by a strong military escort—he 
started on his journey in the autumn of 1819 over a 
country in some places broken up into schist and quartz 
ridges, in others so swampy that elephants and even 
camels could with difficulty make their way. 

87 


A TERRIBLE DESCENT 


Reaching the summit of the Nath’dwara ridge, the 
expedition halted for a final rest before venturing on 
the entry into the district of Marwar, which borders 
on the Region of Death. To accomplish this, Tod 
must either spend a couple of days in following a 
circuitous route, or risk the perils of descending a pass 
which sloped downward at an angle of fifty-five degrees, 
nearly a couple of miles in length, and hitherto rarely 
traversed by any Englishman. 

Arguing that horses and elephants will go wherever 
a man dare venture, the Colonel had decided on the 
quicker, if more hazardous, means of reaching the low¬ 
lands. The order to march was given, and the escort 
and baggage-elephants started, the four officers follow¬ 
ing more slowly, Carey on horseback and the other 
three mounted on an elephant. 

By the time these reached the head of the slope the 
troops had disappeared. Checking their pace to a 
careful crawl, the officers began the giddy descent, and 
had scarcely rounded the first curve when they came 
upon a scene the reverse of encouraging. Above the 
roar of the mountain torrent, which rushed down on 
either side of their path, sounded the shouts of the 
soldiers and the terror-stricken screams of horses, 
elephants, and native servants, while in dismal pro¬ 
fusion bundles, knapsacks, and cooking-pots lay broad¬ 
cast, or rolled down one of the three inclines. Further 
on, the native cook sat tearfully enthroned on a heap 
of saucepans and bottles, gasping out shouts of condo¬ 
lence to the foremost elephant, which, having missed 
his footing and burst his baggage-girths, was reaching 
88 


CAREY’S FATE 

the bottom of the pass by means of an undignified 
roll. 

The Colonel and his companions, having gained the 
head of the column, now found themselves forced to 
keep that position owing to a sudden narrowing of 
the path, and, having despatched men to collect the 
spilt luggage, they led the way on. The path grew 
more and more narrow till there was not even room 
for two horses to walk abreast, and a still steeper 
decHvity forced both elephant and horse to slide rather 
than walk. So taken up were the riders, moreover, 
with managing the trembling animals that they were 
scarcely aware of a path which forked off to the left at 
an acute angle with the one which they were pursuing, 
until they were well beyond it, and cut off by a bend 
from sight of their followers. 

The Lieutenant was riding foremost, and now that 
a more level platform lay in front of him, made no 
attempt to restrain his horse from relieving himself 
after his slide by a brisk trot. But the others halted 
their elephant in an attempt to signal by shouts to 
the escort behind, so that Carey was soon well away 
from them. Leaning out of the howdah to call to him 
to stop, the Colonel was paralyzed with horror to see 
the horse shy, swerve, and disappear with his rider 
into the stream on the left, which, froma mere spring 
at the fork where the roads divided, had become a 
dangerous torrent. 

Leaping down from the howdah. Tod ran at break¬ 
neck speed towards the spot, slipping and stumbling 
in his haste and perilling his own life. In a short time 
89 


LOST 


he rejoined the others, who saw by the grief in his face 
that his efforts had been unsuccessful; not a trace of 
the lad was discoverable, and there could be no doubt 
but that horse and rider had been swept away by the 
torrent. 

The little party waited in vain for the escort to come 
up with them, till voices away to the left gave evidence 
that it had taken the other path. Return was beyond 
all possibility, for even had there been room for the 
elephant to face about, there was no ascending the 
slippery defile by which they had come, and they must 
needs continue their downward march through the 
fast-gathering dusk, guided only by the voice of the 
rushing water, and expecting any moment to be hurled 
over the bank or attacked by some beast of prey. 

When the level was at last reached complete dark¬ 
ness reigned ; all the drink and the provisions were 
with the servants, and even the solace of a fire was 
unprocurable. Dismounting, the Colonel and the 
doctor threw themselves on the bare ground, while 
Waugh strolled away, gun in hand, to survey the sur¬ 
roundings and look for some sign of the escort. In a 
few minutes he was back again with the news that 
round the foot of the ridge a watch-fire was visible. 
Cheered somewhat by this announcement, they urged 
the elephant on again, and soon came upon, not their 
own men, but a bivouac of native soldiers in the 
employ of the Chief of Ganora, who, warned of the 
visit of the English agent, had sent a detachment of 
troops to meet him by way of compliment. 

After partaking of food from the native officers’ 
90 



Leaning out of the howclah, Colonel Tod was paralyzed with horror to see the horse shy, 
swerve, and disappear with his rider into the stream. 
























THE NATIVE SOLDIERS 


slender supply, Duncan and Waugh rolled themselves 
in the elephant’s jhool, or body-cloth, and were soon 
fast asleep. But the Colonel could not rest; the fate 
of “ little Carey,” and the remembrance of the young 
fellow’s gaiety, warm-heartedness, and contempt of 
danger weighed upon him like a nightmare, and drove 
him to seek the company of the native soldiers round 
the camp-fire. At last he fell into a restless doze, from 
which he was awakened at seven in the morning by 
the doctor, who reported that the Ganora soldiers 
had discovered the whereabouts of the escort, which 
was already on the march from its camp at a spot 
some miles distant, whither the winding path had led it. 

Tod had scarcely risen to his feet when his men came 
in sight. At any other time the heartiness of the 
cheer that came from them on catching sight of their 
leader would have rejoiced him, witnessing as it did to 
his extreme popularity ; but to-day he had no heart for 
enjoyment. 

A sudden exclamation from the doctor made him 
look up, and there, at the head of the troop, riding a 
fresh horse, and chatting with the officer in command 
of the escort, he beheld Lieutenant Carey, whole and 
jovial as ever. 

“ What—what—on earth— ?” gasped the Colonel. 

“ All right, sir !” said the lad, saluting, as though 
he had come to report himself after leave. 

“ All right ? We—we had given you up for dead,” 
said his chief, trying to laugh, while Waugh facetiously 
quoted an uncomplimentary proverb referring to the 
reason why some men never need fear drowning. 

91 


GOOD NEWS 


Carey’s explanation was, after all, a very simple one. 
His horse had indeed been killed, but he, kicking him¬ 
self free from the stirrups as he fell, had managed to 
gain the farther bank, which lay fairly low, and, 
hearing the voices of the escort from the left-hand path, 
had joined them, expecting to find the other officers 
there. 

Taking leave of the native troops, the united party 
recommenced its march towards the Looni River; 
slowly, however, for the sudden climatic change from 
58° F. in the hills to 98° F. on the plain was almost 
prostrating in its effect. The outlook ahead was not 
inviting ; they were leaving a fertile region for one of 
sand and sterility ; exchanging the luxuriant vegeta¬ 
tion of the sacred fig-tree, with its enormous leaves, for 
the stunted growths of the Death Region. Long, weary 
marches of ten, eighteen, twenty, and even thirty miles 
per day brought them to the salt lakes near Kankani, 
where they were delayed by two rival caravan chiefs, 
each of whom claimed the monopoly of the desert salt 
traffic. With all their friends and relations, they had 
gathered together to submit their respective wrongs to 
the agent of the Government, one side showing the 
wounds inflicted by its rivals, and calling upon the 
“ protector of the poor ” to mete out chastisement to 
the evil-doers ; the other pointing out to the “ heaven- 
born ” Colonel that the recent squabble was but a 
negligible feature in a long-standing family feud. 

After trying hopelessly to follow each faction through 
the bewildering maze of lies constructed for his enter¬ 
tainment, the agent bade the litigants bring their griefs 
92 


THE “SEE-KOTE 


to him to Jodpur, the capital town, whither he was 
bound for the hearing of disputes and receiving of 
reports. 

His business in Jodpur transacted, the Colonel was 
soon in the desert again, making his way towards the 
Morwun territory, the approach to which is at a much 
greater altitude than the plains of Marwar, insomuch 
that the ground soon began to sparkle with frost, and 
Tod, in default of a great-coat, was glad to utilize 
the sacred dugla, or quilted brocade tunic, with which 
the high-priest at Jodpur had presented him. Soon 
the mouths of the water-skins became encrusted with 
ice, and the Colonel asked his servant for the thermo¬ 
meter, wishing to note the exact temperature. But 
the world will never know the precise figure to which 
the glass had sunk ; for the servant, after much circum¬ 
locution and many allusions to the celestial origin of 
his master, produced a broken instrument, and pro¬ 
ceeded graphically to describe how he had seen the 
mercury “ run away ” of its own accord. 

Just then Colonel Tod’s attention was diverted by the 
other officers to a city of gigantic height that lay before 
them, which the doctor insisted was a mirage, but 
which Carey stoutly proclaimed to be “ real.” Yet 
a mirage it was, of the kind known locally as the see- 
kote, or “ cold-weather castles.” The mirages of the 
Indian desert are of two kinds—the chittram, or 
“ pictures ”—probably the same as the sehrab, which is 
implied in Isaiah xli. 18—and the see-kote, the latter 
never visible save in excessively cold weather, when the 
wind is low and the grosser vapours cannot rise. 

93 


ACCIDENT TO CAPTAIN WAUGH 


Another peculiarity of this variety is its tremendous 
height and narrowness as contrasted with the com¬ 
parative lowness and wide extent of the commoner 
sort. 

It was with very real satisfaction that the travellers 
found on the following day that they were again on the 
descent; and, by the time they reached their next 
stopping-place, everyone was glad to throw off the 
thicker clothing which the recent cold had made 
necessary. 

Coming to a village on the road to Kotah, a three 
days’ halt was called for harness repairs, farriery, and 
general relaxation. The officers took advantage of the 
occasion to get in some shooting and deer-hunting, 
which latter sport ended in disaster to Captain Waugh, 
who, riding in hot pursuit of a very fine elk, had his 
leg crushed between his saddle and a tree-trunk, 
which necessitated a longer stay in that place. 

|,x One evening, while the Colonel and Duncan were 
sitting with the invalid, loud outcries were heard from 
the village, and Carey, hastening into the tent for a 
gun, reported that a tiger was in the vicinity. Leaving 
the wounded Captain to the doctor’s care, the Colonel 
and Lieutenant ran down to the village, where an ex¬ 
cited crowd had collected, and was pointing, awe¬ 
struck, down the road to a dark shadow moving 
stealthily along in the moonlight. 

The two soldiers signed to the natives to clear out 
of the way, and were about to raise their guns, when, 
with shouts of warning and fear, the populace sur¬ 
rounded them, one or two of the more venturesome 
94 


A MAGNANIMOUS TIGER 


even pushing up the gun-barrels—apologetically, it is 
true, but firmly. 

Suspecting a possible repetition of the “ Black Hole,” 
Carey began to visit severe punishment on his imme¬ 
diate neighbours with foot and fist; but the Colonel, 
skilled in native superstition and prejudice, called his 
young friend to order, and demanded an explanation 
of the villagers. 

“ Ah ! do not shoot. Colonel Sahib !” implored the 
head-man. “ Mamoo ” (uncle) “ is our friend, but he 
would exact a fearful vengeance on us and on our 
children did we but raise gun or spear against him.” 

The beast was, continued the head-man, a noted 
cattle-thief, grown old in the ways of crime, and had 
only two days before dined off an ox belonging to a 
poor oil-carrier. But no one had ever offered him 
violence or opposition, in consideration of which he 
had never been known to shed human blood. But, on 
that evening, as two water-carriers—brothers—were 
walking into the village, the child of one of them, who 
was lagging a few steps behind, had suddenly cried out : 
“ Uncle—oh, uncle ! I am your child ! Let me go ! do 
not harm me !” The water-carriers, amazed, and think¬ 
ing the boy had gone mad, turned round, and, to their 
dismay, saw a tiger with his teeth in the lad’s waist- 
cloth. With commendable bravery, the peasants 
attacked him with sticks, and alarmed the village ; 
and the tractable beast was just in retreat as the 
Englishmen made their appearance. 

“ Do but speak him kindly, 0 heaven-born!” 
added the Hindu ; “ call him ‘ uncle,’ and all is well.” 

95 


CHOLERA ! 


Carey did not accept the statement without reserve, 
but, by the time the somewhat long-winded explana¬ 
tion was at an end, the tiger had withdrawn to his 
lair. 

No further noteworthy event took place till the ex¬ 
pedition reached Kotah, and there a more terrible foe 
than it had yet encountered was to be faced—cholera ! 
Half the inhabitants were suffering from that plague. 

For several months doctor, officers, and men fought 
the terrible disease with noble self-denial, patiently 
tending and isolating the sick, and doing their best 
to combat native ignorance, prejudice, and prone¬ 
ness to customs unclean. When at last they were 
able to set out towards Jaipur, where they were long 
overdue, the gallant little Carey paid the penalty of his 
exertions in behalf of the cholera victims in an attack 
of fever, so acute that he had to be left behind; while 
Dr. Duncan himself was scarcely well enough to sit up 
in the howdah. 

At the first halting-place Colonel Tod had a miracu¬ 
lous escape from death. He and Waugh were awaiting 
dinner in their tent when the Colonel, feeling unusually 
hungry, asked for a cake of mukhi flour. He had not 
swallowed three mouthfuls when his head seemed to 
expand as though it would fill the tent; his tongue 
became swollen, and his throat so contracted that he 
could not speak. Waugh, thinking his chief was in a 
fit, hurried to the tent where the doctor lay asleep. 

The Colonel now thought that all was over, for he could 
no longer breathe; and when his two friends scrambled 
into the tent, he signed solemnly to them to leave him 
96 


THE BEAR-HUNT 


in peace. But Duncan, who had guessed the truth 
from the Captain’s breathless description of the symp¬ 
toms, seized the now prostrate man by the head and 
shoulders, and ordered Waugh to force down his throat 
a compound of ether with which he had come provided. 
The result was marvellous : the swelling began quickly 
to subside, and Tod could breathe and speak again 
almost with ease. 

He had been poisoned by a subtle drug which some¬ 
one—his Hindu servant, probably, who had of late 
grown sulky and insolent—had mixed with his food, 
and, but for the doctor’s kindly refusal to stay behind 
at Kotah, would inevitably have died. The supposed 
culprit was sent for, and, with many tears and pro¬ 
testations, laid claim to the innocence of the new-born 
babe ; and Tod administered no other punishment 
than immediate discharge—acting with the perhaps 
ill-judged generosity and good-heartedness that char¬ 
acterized all his dealings with the natives (most of whom 
adored him), and which later set tongues wagging 
with lying reports about his having accepted bribes 
from the Hindu rulers. 

But a few weeks after, when, Carey and the doctor 
restored to health, the four friends had gone in pursuit 
of a bear that was in the neighbourhood, they witnessed 
a better example of native gratitude. Still weak from 
an attack of fever which had followed the poisoning 
episode, the Colonel had loitered in climbing down a 
hill-path, while the others had followed the track down 
on to the sand. All at once from the foot of the hill 
the bear made his appearance, sighted Tod, and began 
97 G 


SAVED BY A NATIVE 


steadily to climb towards him. The Captain and the 
subaltern both fired, and missed ; the bear increased 
his speed, and was within ten feet of his intended 
victim before the latter could get an aim. He fired, 
striking the animal’s flank, but instead of falling he 
darted forward at the Colonel, who, hemmed from 
behind by a rock nine feet high, with almost a 
precipice to his right hand and an unscalable cliff to 
his left, was a close prisoner. 

It is only the born coward who boasts of never 
having been frightened. Many men, whose courage is 
indisputable, will own to moments of agonizing fear, 
and Tod frankly admitted afterwards that such a 
moment had then come to him. 

The bear reared on his hind-feet, stretched his claws, 
and opened his forelegs for the fatal grip, gnashing his 
teeth the while in the face of the now defenceless 
officer, the horror of whose situation was augmented 
by the fact that there, within a few yards, were his 
companions with loaded guns in their hands, yet none 
daring to fire for fear of shooting their friend. 

Stepping back as far as the rock would allow, the 
Colonel was preparing for what must be a futile 
attempt at grappling with his foe, when there was a 
rustling in the bushes beneath his feet, and a native 
servant, who had accompanied the shooting-party, 
sprang between his master and the bear, burying a 
short hog-spear in the beast’s body and plunging him 
down the hillside. 

This heroic act on the Hindu’s part was generously 
rewarded, and served to blot out the score run up by 
98 


ACCIDENT TO THE COLONEL 


numerous acts of treachery such as the one already 
mentioned. 

But a life of almost everyday adventure and peril 
in one of the deadliest climes of the world, particularly 
when coupled with official persecution, petty jealousy, 
and misrepresentation, will break down even the 
strongest constitution. And when, on entering a native 
palace-court, through misjudging the height of an arch¬ 
way, Tod was knocked out of his howdah, and lay for 
weeks between life and death, he knew that it was time 
to abandon his eventful career for the quieter home- 
life of England. But his sagacity, bravery, and 
perseverance are remembered in India to this day, 
where his most lasting monument is the prosperity 
which now reigns in the towns and villages which he 
rescued from desolation. 

LCFC, 


G 2 


99 


CHAPTER VIII 


A RIDE TO BOKHARA 

William Moorcroft, the first Englishman to cross the Himalayas— 
A five years’ journey—A visit from the robbers—How to deal 
with spies—The alarm—Preparing for attack—The plot— 
And the counterplot—Fate of the second spy—A terrible 
night-watch—To arms !—Capture of the robber chief—The 
Pass of Ah Masj id—Dismissal of the guides—The storm, and 
Moorcroft’s escape—Desertions at Cabul—Arrested at Kunduz 
—Moorcroft’s successful ruse—Izzet Ullah gives up—The pass 
carpeted with jewels—The frozen desert—The desert of 
Turkestan—A \dllage of dead men—The Kirghis—A delusion. 

It is generally believed that the first Englishman to 
cross the Himalaya Range was William Moorcroft, 
Veterinary-Surgeon-in-Chief to the Bengal army. This 
feat formed but an unimportant part of his five years’ 
wanderings—1819-1824—in Central Asia, the termina¬ 
tion of which was his splendidly heroic, if reckless and 
unwise, march to Bokhara. 

After four years of adventure and privation he left 
Peshawur with a young Anglo-Indian barrister named 
Trebeck and a Hindu chief, Izzet Ullah, a staff of Hindu 
and Cashmere servants, and six Gurkha soldiers. 
Travelling by way of the stony plain that lies south¬ 
ward of the Afghan hills, a waste of dried-up water- 
100 


A VISIT FROM THE ROBBERS 


courses and ruined villages, they encamped the first 
night near Jamrud. 

The camp was scarcely arranged when about thirty 
of the Khyberis, notorious thieves and assassins, made 
their appearance offering their services as guides and 
escort. This was Moorcroft’s second introduction to 
this exceedingly disreputable collection, for while still 
in Peshawur their Kazi, or leader, had demanded to 
know at what price the travellers purposed buying 
immunity from his men’s attacks. In the town such 
visitors were easily to be got rid of, but in the desert it 
was another matter, and discretion bade Moorcroft 
consent to being escorted as far as the Momand country 
by the Khyberis for the sum of twenty-five rupees— 
and perquisites. 

When the Kazi had retired to his own camp the 
Englishman lay down to sleep, but the recollection of 
the crafty and ferocious Afghan faces kept him wake¬ 
ful. Every few minutes he fancied that he heard 
whispering and stealthy movements round about the 
tent-door, and after some time a sudden sharp draught 
near his head warned him that the lower edge of the 
canvas was being slightly raised. By the time he had 
lit his lamp the disturber of his rest had vanished. 

Having again examined the fastening of the door, he 
sat down by it and saw to the loading of his gun and 
pistols, for all thought of sleep had gone. Before he 
had been seated many minutes the canvas wall nearly 
opposite began to belly inwards, and this time hushed 
voices could be distinctly heard. 

Moorcroft was rather at a loss as to the best course 
101 


HOW TO DEAL WITH SPIES 


to pursue. Trebeck’s and Izzet Ullah’s tents were 
but a yard or two away, and a shout would have 
reached them, but he dreaded the effect of sudden 
panic on the Cashmere servants. While he hesitated, 
the canvas near the bottom edge bulged still further 
inwards, taut and basin-shaped, as though pressed in 
by a turbaned head, and, between the ground and the 
hem of the canvas, rested eight brown finger-tips. 
Someone was trying to peep at him. 

Moorcroft’s heavy, jack-spurred riding-boots lay to 
his hand, frankly suggesting a solution of the difficulty. 
The sturdy North Countryman found himself chuckling 
gently as he took careful aim with one of these at the 
rounded object before him ; for even in direst peril or 
pain the ludicrous side of things will still obtrude 
itself. The missile flew, and struck something ; there 
was a bellow of pain, followed by the scuttling of two 
pairs of feet, and the tent-wall resumed its normal shape. 

The boot was scarcely picked up again when the 
door was tried from without, then rattled vigorously. 
At least the new visitor was more above-board in his 
methods than his predecessor. 

“ Moorcroft, let me in ; it’s I—Trebeck,” sounded 
from outside, and the next moment the young man was 
admitted, pale and excited, pistol in hand. 

“ Have you heard anything ?” he asked hurriedly. 

“ Not a great deal; but I’ve hit something.” The 
reply came in Moorcroft’s humorous, sing-song, Lanca¬ 
shire drawl, which even an earthquake would not 
have greatly accelerated. Then, by gesture more than 
word, he told what had happened. 

102 


THE PLOT 


“ Get your boots and coat on,” was the answer ; 
“ bring gun and pistols ; come into Izzet’s tent; don’t 
leave a light—quick !” Trebeck gave these directions 
in a series of jerky whispers, and led the way out. 
Moorcroft did as he was bidden, fastened the door as 
well as he could from the outside, and sprang after his 
friend, across the narrow gangway, into the Hindu’s 
tent, which was large and commodious. 

“You have brought fire-arms ? Good!” cried Izzet 
Ullah, and beckoned the Englishmen forward to where 
he and his son sat surrounded by all the servants of the 
party, while the Gurkhas, armed with their long knives, 
guarded the entry. “ We shall fight to-night, my 
friend. Ah ! I wish it were day ; it would be warmer.” 
And the chief shivered. He was getting old, and, 
though his courage was indubitable, he had a mortal 
dread of night-chills and draughts. 

Motioning to Moorcroft to be seated, while Trebeck 
rejoined the group by the door, he told him that one 
of the servants, lurking near where the escort was en¬ 
camped, had overheard a conversation between the 
Khyberis which disclosed a villainous, if clumsy, plot. 
At moonrise three or four men were to enter each tent 
by a way prepared by a couple of scouts (Moorcroft 
thought he could shed light on the mystery of the 
scouts’ proceedings), cut the throats of the owners, 
and take possession of their property, while the rest 
of the Khyberis would occupy themselves with a 
massacre of the servants and Gurkhas. 

Izzet Ullah laughed heartily at the Englishman’s 
method of dealing with the scouts, ordered lights to be 
103 


THE COUNTER-PLOT 


extinguished, and three of the Gurkhas to keep up a 
steady march round the inside wall of the tent; guns 
or pistols were put into the hands of the servants, 
two of whom were appointed to light the lamps the 
moment the signal was given ; and then the three 
leaders conferred in whispers. 

An hour crawled slowly on without a sign from 
the enemy; the suspense was torturing, hideous; 
the darkness unrelieved ; the silence not perceptibly 
broken by the light tread of the sentries, who slowly 
and patiently crept along the walls with noiseless 
feet. 

Another half-hour went by, and then Moorcroft, who 
sat on the side nearest his own tent, heard the approach 
of quick, yet almost silent, footsteps. The new¬ 
comer stopped almost opposite him, and in another 
moment his ear caught the sound of a knife-blade 
ripping through canvas—the canvas of his own tent; 
then followed a grunt of satisfaction from the operator, 
and the crunch of stones underfoot announced that he 
was about to serve Izzet Ullah’s tent as he had done 
Moorcroft’s. 

Before the latter could take action, a knife, inserted 
at about three feet from the ground, slashed the tent- 
side to the bottom. Moorcroft was about to spring 
through the opening, on the chance of capturing 
the delinquent, when a faint, swift rustle was followed 
by a gasp and a hiccough ; and the meagre ray of star¬ 
light, admitted by the newly-made opening, showed 
that a sentry had driven the point of his weapon 
through the throat of the Afghan. 

104 


A TERRIBLE NIGHT-WATCH 


Izzet gave brief directions to a servant, who swiftly 
sewed up the rent, and all was quiet again. 

After another half-hour, Trebeck, sickening with 
the strain, opened the tent-door and looked out. 

“ The moon is rising !” he said in a loud whisper, 
audible throughout the tent, and closed the door again. 
The old chief roused himself from a half-doze, and drew 
his sword. 

“ Now, my children,” he muttered to his Gurkhas ; 
but for a good half-hour longer the peace was undis¬ 
turbed. At length there was the stir of many foot¬ 
steps ; several men stood outside the door ; others were 
heard groping their way into Trebeck’s and Moor- 
croft’s tents ; one or two more felt gently along the 
wall of the larger tent, while a muttered conversation 
disclosed the fact that the assailants were still unaware 
of their companion’s fate. 

Suddenly there arose a sharp cry of alarm ; the dead 
body had been found, and a hurried buzz of voices 
made it clear that the finders were divided between 
inclination to fiee and desire for revenge. Surely they 
would attack now ! 

All at once Izzet cried loudly to the lampmen, and 
a blaze of light illuminated the interior. 

“ Open the door,” he whispered ; and Trebeck flung 
it open so sharply that two of the Khyberis who had 
been straining to peep through where a chink of fight 
showed were precipitated into the tent, and were 
instantly pounced upon and bound securely. 

“ Close the door again ; I feel a chill,” said the old 
Hindu, and made a motion to the Gurkhas, whereat 
105 


CAPTURE OF THE ROBBER CHIEF 


they advanced smilingly towards the captives, who 
read a death-sentence in the smile. 

But the sentence was revoked before it could be 
executed ; for Moorcroft had leant forward to the chief 
and was whispering earnestly. Izzet seemed to nod 
approval, and the Englishman, reopening the door, 
began to shout lustily for the Kazi ; and, seeing some 
of the Afghans skulking away, told them peremptorily 
that he proposed resuming the march in an hour’s 
time. 

The Kazi came, smiling and even fawning. He was 
no sooner within the tent than the chief motioned to 
the Gurkhas, who, closing in on him, hustled him 
forward to where the leaders sat. 

“You have slain one of my men, and injured 
another,” he said politely. 

“ And captured two more,” added Trebeck, pointing 
to the two prostrate Khyberis. 

“ And you are going to offer me compensation for my 
loss,” suggested the Kazi, with a crafty smile. 

Izzet Ullah toyed significantly with a pistol. 

The robber chief scowled. 

“ I could kill you all; I have but to give the word,” 
he said in sudden anger. 

Moorcroft laughed. 

“ For what do you take us ?” he asked. “ Don’t 
you see that we have hostages ?” He pointed to the 
prisoners. “ One, two ”—he levelled a ready-cocked 
pistol at the Kazi’s head—“ three ! One word from 
you to your ruffians, or one attempt on their part at 
rescue, and you will be shot dead. Till we reach the 
106 



A Critical Moment 

The Kazi came, smiling and even fawning. He was no sooner within the tent than the 
two Gurklias closed on him and hustled him forward. 









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THE PASS OF ALI MASJID 


other side of these mountains you are our guide—and 
prisoner ; and it depends on the conduct of your men 
as to whether we take you on to Cabul.” 

The Kazi shivered. He was not liked in Cabul. 

By the time everyone was ready it was light—light 
enough to see that half the Khyberis had disappeared ; 
and not empty-handed, for they had taken with them 
a compass, pistol, and blanket, stolen from Trebeck’s 
tent. 

By midday the mountain district was reached, and 
“ a hot wind which seemed to come from a blacksmith’s 
forge arose,” which almost incapacitated the two 
Englishmen, worn out as they were for want of sleep. 
Moorcroft called a halt, much against the will of the 
Khyberis ; for the chosen resting-place was the border¬ 
line between the territories of two robber clans—the 
Koki Khail and the Zaka Khail, neither of them beloved 
of the guides. 

As soon as the wind began to subside, Izzet Ullah 
added his entreaties to those of the Kazi, and, Moor¬ 
croft yielding, they entered upon the Ali Masjid pass— 
one of the most dangerous in the country : a narrow 
defile, often not five yards wide, running between steep, 
slate-faced mountains or precipices one thousand 
three hundred feet high, and overhung by beetling 
crags that lowered threateningly down on the travellers. 
No one breathed very freely till the open was reached 
once more. The “ open ” meant sand-desert again ; 
but at least there was room in which to move com¬ 
fortably, and to guard against the treacherous knife- 
stab of an evil-disposed guide. 

107 


DISMISSAL OF THE GUIDES 


The camp was pitched on stony, weedless earth, and, 
lest any fresh conspiracy should be on foot, the two 
Englishmen arranged to share the night-watch with 
the only two of the Gurkhas who could be implicitly 
trusted ; for the others were Mussulmans, and thus co¬ 
religionists of the Afghans. But the three prisoners 
were more than sufficient guarantee of the good 
behaviour of their fellows ; no fresh attempt was made 
on that or any succeeding night, and when in the course 
of the next few days they came to the village of Nimba, 
the band were allowed to go back, which they did in 
some haste, well pleased at having gotten off so cheaply. 
Had Izzet Ullah been allowed his way, the Gurkhas’ 
knives would have put the Khyberis’ return out of the 
question. 

Hitherto the Englishmen had feared that they would 
not gain the better-watered districts while the drought 
held ; but they were mistaken, as Moorcroft learned that 
very night. He had slept for some hours, when he was 
awakened by a sense of oppression, to find a terrific 
rattling, as of shingle, immediately over his head. 
Unable to explain his choking sensation, he tried to sit 
up and stretch out his hands ; but on every side his 
movements were limited, and wherever he felt, he 
touched, as it were, a shroud of saturated cloth. He 
cried out for aid, but his voice died away in a muffled 
roll; once again he tried to rise, but fell back again, 
his feet hampered in the same envelope that fettered all 
his movements. He shivered, and tried again to make 
his voice heard ; this was painfully hke being buried 
alive. 


108 


MOORCROFT’S ESCAPE 


At last his wandering hand lighted on the haft of 
a hunting-knife which he usually laid with his pistols 
on retiring. Armed with this, he cut through the 
cloth cloud that held him prisoner, and, thrusting his 
head through the opening thus made, was immediately 
drenched with raindrops as big as marbles, while a 
gust of wind took away what little breath he had left. 
In the dim light of dawn he now saw that he was the 
centre of a dismal wreck. The tent, though very large, 
had but one pole, and this had been snapped by the 
force of the wind ; the canvas had fallen on him, and, 
but for its being partially upheld by the remains of the 
pole, he must have been suffocated. 

By morning the storm had subsided, and the sun 
shone more fiercely than before, the excessive heat con¬ 
tinuing till the expedition entered Cabul. 

When Moorcroft was ready to set out from that city 
Trebeck approached him with an unpleasant piece 
of news. Reports as to dangers of the way beyond, 
circulating through the town, had reached the ears of 
their men, and all the Cashmere servants had deserted 
rather than encounter further difficulties. Then, when 
another couple of days had been given up to the 
engaging of Afghan servants, Izzet Ullah had further 
information to impart. His four Mohammedan 
Gurkhas had run away ; nor was this all. The old 
chief, scorning danger to himself, was growing alarmed 
for the safety of his son. If he himself were killed, he 
said simply, it were no matter ; he was old, and must 
soon die in any case; but if aught of evil happened to 
his son, who would carry on the name ? No, his son 
109 


ARRESTED AT KUNDUZ 


should go no further. And when Moorcroft next saw 
the old man, it was to learn that the youth had been 
sent back towards India with a hired Afghan escort, 
and three of the Hindu servants. 

Thus reduced in force and numbers, the party started 
once more, and, in order to avoid the mountain passes, 
followed the longer track over deserts of sand and 
camel-thorn, varied by an occasional grassy oasis, to 
Kunduz, where all were immediately arrested as spies, 
taken before the Khan, Murad Beg, and heavily fined. 

It is easier to enter than to leave some Eastern 
cities. When Moorcroft, after supplying the places 
of fresh deserters, had got outside of the town, an armed 
force came in pursuit, and escorted the whole party 
back to their former lodgings. They appealed to 
Murad Beg, who informed them that they were 
detained during his pleasure. 

Moorcroft was one of those who can never admit 
defeat. After various unsuccessful attempts at freeing 
his friends, he learned that at Talikan there dwelt a 
Turco priest who was Murad Beg’s adviser in all things, 
and whose word was law to the tyrant. Disguising 
himself as a Turcoman, the veterinary surgeon escaped 
from the town, and after a solitary desert ride entered 
Talikan, won the good graces of Murad Beg’s adviser, 
and returned in triumph with a letter from him ordering 
the strangers’ instant release. And the expedition 
made a fresh start, but without Izzet Ullah. 

During his captivity the good old man had heard 
horrible stories of a frozen desert that must be crossed, 
and of mountains waist-deep in snow to be climbed. 

no 


THE PASS CARPETED WITH JEWELS 


He liked fighting, he said; had even no objection to 
being rain-drowned or thirst-maddened; but he never 
had ventured on a desert of ice, and craved no new 
experiences at his time of life. Had he been young 
like Moorcroft (Moorcroft was a stripling of nine and 
fifty), he would not have hesitated ; as it was, he must 
regretfully return. Which he did, taking his followers 
with him. 

Loyal as Trebeck was, and determined to accompany 
his friend to death if need were, he was yet saddened 
and disheartened by this succession of desertions ; but 
his companion had been broken in to reverses, treach¬ 
eries, and disappointments, and seemed to take each 
fresh defection as an incentive to renewed perseverance. 

The next week was an exciting one, for the little 
band was chased from village to oasis and from oasis 
to desert by organized gangs of robbers in the pay of 
Murad Beg, and these were not shaken off till the 
Shahbagli Pass was entered. This pass was even more 
wonderful than the Thebaid Mountains mentioned in 
Bruce’s journey, for it was carpeted with “ pebbles, 
moonstones, and cats’-eyes,” and on either side lay 
“ agates in lumps, opals, and fragments of topaz.” 

At last the frozen desert came in sight, and proved, 
like many of our difficulties, more formidable at a 
distance than at close quarters. Ice it certainly was, 
but the sturdy, two-humped, Bactrian camels bore 
the travellers bravely across it in less than half 
a day. At its farther side it ended in an abrupt 
descent, which Trebeck felt must surely be the portal 
to a kindlier region. But, though the seemingly end- 
111 


THE DESERT OF TURKESTAN 


less declivity brought the explorers to a warmer 
clime, it was but to the warmth of the desert 
of Turkestan, scantily watered by the river Oxus or 
Amu, which bisects it. 

By a stroke of luck (for the theft of Trebeck’s 
compass and the subsequent loss of Moorcroft’s had 
left them in a rudderless condition) the line which they 
followed haphazard led direct to the river’s bank, near 
the ferry and village of Khwaja Salah. As the huts 
and homesteads came into view the Afghans broke into 
joyous shouts, for they liked not overmuch solitude. 

“ This is the queerest Asiatic village I’ve seen,” 
said Trebeck, puzzled that every man, woman, and 
child did not run out at the approach of strangers. 
“ Where’s everyone gone to ?” 

It could scarcely be the t 3 rpical deserted or ruined 
village of the East, for dogs and poultry ran hither and 
thither, smoke ascended in various quarters, and, 
what was more gruesome, as the camels and horses 
came up, a flock of carrion-birds rose in the air. A 
chill shudder passed through the two travellers as 
they looked about them. They had come to a village 
of corpses. 

After waiting some time at the bank a ferryman 
came within hail, who conveyed the party across, and 
in doing so accounted for the condition of the village. 
A few days before, he said, a body of Turcomans from 
Urganj had swooped down on the place, slain the men, 
and taken off all the women, children, and cattle. 

In disembarking his passengers the ferryman volun¬ 
teered another piece of intelligence. 

112 


THE KIRGHIS 


“ This is all the water you will see, this side of 
Bokhara.” 

When his water-skins were replenished, Moorcroft 
proceeded, and in a few minutes found himself in the 
midst of an owahy or Kirghis camp, where horses stood 
ready saddled at tent-doors, and Tartar children ran 
screaming to their mothers at the approach of the 
little caravan. But the people were inoffensive and 
hospitable, gave the wayfarers a drink of koumiss— 
spirit distilled from mare’s milk—and willingly pointed 
out the way. 

One more incident relieved the tedium of the last 
part of the march. Trebeck rose early one morning 
while they were encamped within a few miles of the 
end of the desert, and started on foot to explore a well- 
marked track that ran right and left of their route. 
After he had followed it for a mile he saw to his 
wonderment that it led to a huge, palatial building 
whose walls glistened as if of polished marble. He 
hurried his pace, and had nearly reached the edifice 
when a gunshot to his right made him look hurriedly 
round. 

Not far away was Moorcroft pursuing a flock of 
bustards, one of which he had just shot. Trebeck 
stopped, and waited for the sportsman. 

“ I came out to look at this castle or palace, or what¬ 
ever it is,” he explained as his friend approached. 

“ Let’s go and expl-” The young man stopped 

short, and his jaw dropped in sudden bewilderment. 
“ Where’s it gone 1” he stammered, for the building 
was not. 


113 


H 


A DELUSION 


“ Where’s what gone ? What are you talking 
about 1” 

Trebeck rubbed his eyes. 

“ There was a marble palace here a minute ago, 
and now it’s gone,” he said. 

The old desert-traveller burst out laughing. 

“ Come and have some breakfast,” he said, “ and 
you’ll feel better. I’ve seen your sort of palace before.” 

But it took him some time to persuade his young 
companion that he had been fooled by a mirage. 


114 


CHAPTER IX 


A SLAVE RAID IN THE SAHARA 

The Denham-Clapperton Expedition—An African merchant-prince 
—Sahara tribes—Result of a sand-storm—The Tibboos at the 
oasis—Robberies—And reprisals—Discovery of Lake Tchad— 
Escort or custody ?—Kuka—The Sultan of Bornu—Diplo¬ 
macy and music—Boo Khalloom’s raid—The Fellata—The 
battle in the desert—An unexpected reverse—Heroism of 
Major Denham—Fighting for life—The end of the battle— 
Death of Boo Khalloom—Another campaign—Fireworks—Sad 
news—The expedition abandoned. 

Thirty years before Heinrich Barth made his cele¬ 
brated journey round North Central Africa much of 
the ground which he covered had been traversed by 
the Denham-Clapperton Expedition, which went in 
search of the sources of the Niger. The explorers did 
not find what they sought, but incidentally they dis¬ 
covered Lake Tchad, and one of them saw something 
of how war is carried on in the heart of Africa. 

The expedition, consisting of Major Dixon Denham, 
Lieutenant Hugh Clapperton, R.N., and a young naval 
surgeon. Dr. Oudney, set out from Murzuk in Fezzan 
when, after many delays and disappointments, Denham 
had succeeded in coercing the Sultans of Tripoli and 
Fezzan into providing him with a proper escort across 
115 H 2 


SAHARA TRIBES 


the Sahara. This escort took the form of a merchant- 
caravan owned by one Boo Khalloom, and guarded by 
over two hundred armed Arabs. 

The African merchant-princes of that day bore much 
the same relation to their Sultans as that in which the 
great barons stood to our Norman Kings—wealthy 
beyond beHef, numbering their servants and slaves in 
thousands, and able at any moment to raise an army 
large enough to defy their rulers. 

Such an escort was fully necessary, for, when the 
Sahara journey commenced, the explorers found them¬ 
selves between two hostile peoples, either or both of 
whom, besides many smaller tribes, might at any time 
waylay and attack them. On the right were the 
Touarek or Tuareg, the bravest and one of the oldest 
of the non-negro African races, believed to be descended 
from the ancient Egyptians ; on the left, a black and 
more timid tribe, the Tibboo, against whom the 
Touarek annually made an unprovoked and unresisted 
raid. 

After a sand-storm which went near to burying the 
whole caravan, the surface of the desert became so 
billowed and broken up into steep ridges that, in places, 
the camels could scarcely make their way. The 
method of descending each ridge was new and amusing 
to the Englishmen ; it consisted in making each camel 
slide or toboggan down the slope, while the driver 
followed behind, hanging with all his weight on the 
animal’s tail to keep camel and rider from toppling 
headlong. 

At one of the oases a crowd of Tibboos lay in wait, 
116 



The Sand-storm nearly buried the Whole Party 












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ROBBERIES—AND REPRISALS 


but, seeing the caravan very large and stoutly guarded, 
were instantly transformed from dangerous highway¬ 
men into servile, if sturdy, beggars. Their chief came 
up and introduced himself while the night’s camp 
was being arranged, and Boo Khalloom made him 
^^PPy for lifo by the gift of a cheap and tawdry 
burnous. Denham happened to produce his watch, 
and, when the natives were assured that it would not 
“ go off,” they gathered round in excited admiration 
to look. The chief was allowed to handle the mys¬ 
terious object, and soon showed that its main attraction 
for him lay, not in its mechanism or use, but in the 
fact that, in the polished surface of the gold case, he 
could see, study, and admire his own image. The 
Major kept a careful eye on both chief and watch till 
the caravan left the oasis. 

From there to the Bornu boundary the journey was 
one long catalogue of petty robberies—and reprisals. 
Not that there was any open attack or “ toll-taking ” 
on a large scale such as was experienced by Richardson 
and Barth, but at every few miles waited small gangs 
of desert-thieves, who, when the main guard had 
passed, or when tents were pitched, sought to coax 
off an odd camel or two, or sometimes succeeded in 
cutting a girth and taking possession of the burthen. 
On one occasion a dog belonging to Clapperton strayed 
away from the camp ; the next day its bones, neatly 
picked, were discovered on the route. At another time 
Boo Khalloom sent forward an emissary to the Sultan 
of Bornu; a few miles further on, the unhappy man was 
found stripped and bound, and half dead from thirst. 

117 


DISCOVERY OF LAKE TCHAD 


But Boo Khalloom had a no more tender conscience 
than the children of the desert, and whenever they 
came to a village the Englishmen felt guiltily conscious 
of forming part of a pillaging expedition, for the 
worthy merchant laid covetous and violent hands on 
everything marketable that came within reach, whether 
camels or jewels, carpets or slaves. 

Another herald was sent on ahead, and met with 
better luck than his predecessor, returning in less than 
a fortnight with the tidings that the Sultan would be 
pleased to receive the strangers. His account of Kuka, 
the capital city, was not exhaustive, for he had seen 
but the outside of it, and had heard widely divergent 
accounts of the Sultan—from some informants that he 
was poor and helpless, from others that he was powerful 
and wealthy. 

After fording the Keou River and passing Lake 
Tchad, they came within sight of Kuka. As they drew 
nearer, a cloud of dust which they had been watching 
suddenly revealed the swift march of a large body of 
men. When within a hundred yards of the caravan, 
the new-comers, yelling and couching their lances, 
redoubled the speed of their camels, and, before any 
plan of defence or escape could be discussed, rode 
straight at the travellers. Within a foot or two of the 
front rank they wheeled sharply, rushed from van to 
rear, round the tail of the caravan, and back again to 
the front, brandishing their lances and shouting : 
“ Blessing, blessing ! sons of your country !” 

Major Denham breathed freely again. 

“ That was a let-off,” he murmured to the other 
118 


ESCORT OR CUSTODY? 


officers. “ I thought we were in for a fight. Their 
way of saying ‘ Good-morning,’ I suppose.” 

“Wait a bit; what are they up to now ?” asked 
Clapperton, mystified. 

The African soldiers had spread themselves so that 
the caravan was completely surrounded, and, as it 
proceeded on its way townwards, there was room for 
doubt as to whether it was in custody or under escort 
of a guard of honour. Outside the city the Bornuans 
in front halted, faced about, and signalled to the 
caravan to stop. Denham rode up to the man in 
command, and asked for an explanation. 

“ We must take precautions,” was the reply. “ Your 
caravan must not enter the city to spy out our wealth 
and our defences. Twelve of you are to enter; the 
rest must stay outside.” 

The Major returned to his friends with this piece of 
information, and as soon as their preparations, in the 
way of arms, wardrobe, and presents, were completed, 
the three officers, together with Boo Khalloom and 
eight of his servants, were ushered into Kuka and into 
the presence of the Sultan. Him they found an agree¬ 
able, if somewhat timorous, young man, who, from 
the moment he discovered that Major Denham spoke 
Arabic fluently, conceived an ardent liking for him. 

“ My Sovereign has heard of your Majesty,” said 
the Major diplomatically, “ and when I return to 
England I shall tell my people that my eyes have 
beheld you and the wealth of your state.” 

“ Heard of me ?” cried the Sultan in ecstasy. 
“Ah! that must be because I have just defeated the 
119 


THE SULTAN OF BORNU 

Begharmisand he looked intensely proud of 
himseK. 

The soldier had never heard of these gentlemen or 
of their defeat, and his august Sovereign was probably 
in a like state of ignorance. But Denham refrained 
from saying so, and was hard put to for a reply, when, 
one after another, the Bornuans standing round ex¬ 
claimed : “I also fought against the Begharmis ; the 
English Sultan must have heard of me 

To silence awkward inquiries the explorer drew 
from his valise a cheap musical-box, and placing it 
before the Sultan, set it going at “ Kule, Britannia.” 
Everyone collapsed in astonishment, and, when “ The 
Blue-bells of Scotland ” was reached. His Majesty 
remarked wistfully : “ I would give a hundred camels 
to possess that box whereupon the politics oldier 
bowed low, and begged his acceptance of it as a gift 
from the British nation. 

With such friendly relations established. Boo Khal- 
loom’s business was soon transacted, and being a man 
who loved to kill as many birds with one stone as 
possible, he announced his departure for the neigh¬ 
bouring hill-district of the desert on a slave-hunting 
excursion. As this raid would not be among the 
Bornuans, but in the country of the Fellata, who were 
negroes, heathen, and enemies, the Sultan not only 
raised no objection, but bethought him that this would 
be a convenient opportunity of sending a force of his 
own against the unbelievers, that he might share the 
merchant’s spoil. 

Major Denham had heard of the Fellata country, 
120 


BOO KHALLOOM’S RAID 


but had despaired of penetrating into it, and now 
gladly seized the unlooked-for chance, leaving Clapper- 
ton and Oudney to explore south of Lake Tchad, and 
to meet him again at Kuka. 

The Bornu squadron, comprising a hundred spear¬ 
men, was under the command of the principal general, 
Barca Gana, a negro of some intelligence and great 
physical strength, and of such ardent proselytizing 
zeal that he bored the Major to death by seeking con¬ 
tinually to convert him to Mohammedanism. 

From an English officer’s point of view there was 
nothing tempting in the campaign now being entered 
upon. The Fellata were reported cowardly, ill- 
equipped, and undisciplined, and it was with a guilty 
feeling of self-reproach that Denham watched the 
ferocious Bornuans and Arabs burn the scattered 
hamlets, and capture or slaughter the almost defence¬ 
less inhabitants. 

At length the invaders came in sight of Dirkulla, the 
largest of the desert villages, and found the negroes 
entrenched beyond the hills on its far side. Barca 
Gana and his men set off by a curved route to surprise 
the Fellata in the rear, while Boo Khalloom and his 
Arabs prepared to storm the defences from the front. 

Above the crest of the tiny hill-ridge appeared the 
terrified natives, armed, poor wretches ! some only with 
rough spears, others with small bows and arrows. 
Their Arab assailants were provided with muskets of 
moderately recent pattern, and were under the leader¬ 
ship of a man who had grown old in systematic con¬ 
flicts with the negroes. 


121 


THE BATTLE IN THE DESERT 


“ Forward !” shouted Boo Khalloom. “ Down with 
the infidel dogs !” And the “faithful” dashed forward 
to their work of blood. 

A great, wailing cry rose from the Fellata—a signal, 
probably, that the Bornu men were already getting to 
the other side of the ridge. 

“ Why not hold them back and let Barca Gana 
drive them down ?” suggested Denham, as they came 
to the foot of the hill. 

But the blood-fever was on Boo Khalloom and all 
his men ; he knew nothing of mercy or moderation, 
and hurried his guards onwards in face of a puny flight 
of arrows from the terror-stricken negroes. The 
Major halted to await events ; he was there only as an 
explorer, and not as a partaker in a massacre. The 
unfortunate defenders were like rats in a cage. 

But it is ill putting one’s hand into the cage that 
holds the rat. Suddenly the Fellata leader sprang in 
front of the defenders. 

“ What do you fear ?” he shrieked. “ See ! They 
are but a couple of handfuls. Let us fight for our homes, 
and our wives, and our camels.” 

It was the appeal that in all ages has put new strength 
into failing hearts ; at times it gave even Julius Caesar 
not a little trouble. 

The defenders stooped, did something that raised a 
quantity of dust, and stood up again ; and a yell of 
triumph and defiance rang through the valleys and 
across the desert, followed by screams of agony from 
the Arabs, several of whom dropped, crushed and 
bleeding, from a hail of stones and rocks that fell or 
122 


AN UNEXPECTED REVERSE 


rolled on them from the hill-rampart. Boo Khalloom 
stopped in his ascent, as did his companions. They 
were not accustomed to such a reception ; the annals 
of slave-taking said little or nothing about resistance 
by means of hundredweights of granite rolled down¬ 
hill, or huge, sharp flints hurled through the air. 

“ See ! they fear us !” roared the jubilant Fellata. 
“ At them ! at them !” 

And Denham was amazed to see appear, from rock- 
crevices and behind hills, several hundreds of the enemy. 
The time had come for him to look after himself, and, 
as fifty or sixty spearmen charged madly down the 
slope, he spurred towards Boo Khalloom. 

But the merchant had seen enough ; he had been 
scratched by one of the enemy’s arrows, and had 
narrowly missed having his head battered in by a lump 
of rock. Already many of his guards lay dead or 
wounded ; and, heedless of the Englishman’s shouts, 
he urged his camel down to the level, and in the direc¬ 
tion which Barca Gana had taken, leaving only half a 
dozen men to go to Denham’s relief. 

The explorer’s sympathy with the Fellata was on 
the wane ; they had ceased to be mere hunted and de¬ 
fenceless villagers, and had become pitiless opponents. 
The agitated Arabs fired their muskets, then their 
pistols, then fled after their master, and in another 
minute Denham was surrounded. He looked anxiously 
at the top of the ridge, but as yet there was no sign of 
the Bornuan force ; he must fight his battle alone. 

The Major fired his two pistols ; two men fell, and 
the rest drew back a step, ceased their shouting, and 
123 


HEROISM OF MAJOR DENHAM 


for a moment there was almost dead silence. Then the 
horse plunged forward into the black mass that sought 
to pen him in, and the Fellata recoiled in horror while, 
like a fork of lightning, the great cavalry sabre flashed 
unceasingly. 

The foremost negroes continued to give ground, 
pushing and squeezing, and even stabbing at those 
whose stand hindered their retreat. They wanted 
to get away ; they had forgotten the Bornuans by 
now ; their sole idea was to be beyond reach of that 
terrible sword, and out of sight of the grim, white¬ 
faced stranger who was silently and steadily making a 
lane through the midst of them. 

But one, bolder than his fellows, flung his lance 
with deadly aim at the Major. Instinctively Denham 
dragged his horse back on its haunches ; as he did so, 
the iron spearhead crashed through the animal’s neck 
and throat. The rider fell free, and sprang to the 
ground as the poor creature fell. Already the Fellata 
were closing in on him again. The merciless Sahara 
sun was streaming down on his head, for his helmet 
had fallen off in the fray ; his tongue was swelling, his 
lips cracking, his brain swimming. He changed his 
sword from right hand to left; if Barca Gana did not 
soon come, he might as well stay away altogether. 
At every moment there was growing less room for the 
sweep of his arm ; he would be able to do little else 
but keep at bay those in front and on either side of 
him ; and after a time it must dawn even on Fellata 
intelligence that a man may be attacked from behind 
without much risk. 


124 


FIGHTING FOR LIFE 


Flushed with success, the man who had thrown the 
first spear snatched another from a dead comrade, and 
leapt in front of the Major, but went down before he 
could hurl or thrust. A second black sprang over his 
body, and, more expert than he, succeeded for a minute 
in keeping ofi the sword-point with his spear. Denham 
made a feint, stepped suddenly back, and lashed out 
furiously at the lance-shaft. The negro drew it back ; 
the blade fell crashing on the iron spear-head, and 
snapped, a few inches from the hilt. A shout of joy 
burst from the foe, but it was cut short as the desperate 
man fiung his useless hilt in his assailant’s face, 
snatched a spear from the hand of another who had 
come too close, and, gripping it near the end, began 
to clear a space round him by swinging it macewise 
in every direction. 

But this could not last long ; each succeeding swing 
grew feebler than the last, till, with the world swimming 
round him, the brave fellow sank exhausted on the 
blood-sodden sand. 

When he recovered consciousness, he was lying 
stripped to the skin with the blood slowly trickling 
from a spear-gash in his left shoulder. Since his entry 
into Kuka he had worn his dragoon’s uniform ; and the 
gold lace, spurs and scarlet which had been the glory 
and ornament of the Bornuan Court were now bones of 
contention among a group of his conquerors, who stood 
by wrangling. 

All at once a great cry of alarm rose from the crowd 
of Fellata who had been busy on the hillside plundering 
the slain—“ The Bornuans !”—and over the ridge came 
125 


DEATH OF BOO KHALLOOM 


the belated Kuka men, led by Barca Gana and Boo 
Khalloom. In another moment every negro had fled 
either towards the desert or into the hills, and Denham 
was alone. 

He dragged himself to his feet, and crawled painfully 
towards his friends, who, as soon as they recognised 
him, hurried to him, found him clothes and drink, 
and lifted him on to a spare camel. 

“ You are not going in chase he asked faintly of 
Boo Khalloom. 

The merchant’s face had looked grey and drawn as he 
came up ; it was now growing livid, and he seemed 
scarcely to understand what was said to him. He 
tried to stammer out some words; then, gasping and 
clutching at the air, fell dead. 

A confused hubbub and wailing rose, and Denham 
murmured something in the ear of the negro general. 
Barca Gana started. 

“ Wounded by an arrow ?” he said, with a shiver 
of horror. “ He who is struck by a Fellata arrow has 
not three hours to live ; they are poisoned.” And, even 
while he spoke, another Arab dropped dead. 

The march back to Kuka had little of the triumph 
that had characterized the setting forth. Boo Khal¬ 
loom and many of his men were killed, and the Bor- 
nuans were not proud of themselves. 

The news of the repulse spread more rapidly and 
widely than the Sultan could have wished, and very 
soon another neighbouring tribe offered defiance to its 
over-lord. Again Denham accompanied the punitive 
expedition, but this time he was armed with extra- 
126 


FIREWORKS 


ordinary powers from the Sovereign, and was deter¬ 
mined to subdue the rising after his own fashion. 

The enemy’s stronghold was reached, as Barca Gana 
had foreseen, at the end of the second day’s march. 
The Major waited till dark came on, when he over¬ 
awed the rebels by a sight new and terrible—a display 
of rockets and squibs. It was too much for negro 
nerves ; the enemy “ retired in disorder,” and, the 
next day, humbly sent in their submission. 

Denham returned to Kuka to await his friends, and 
at last Lieutenant Clapperton returned, ill and foot¬ 
sore, and with melancholy news—he had not found the 
Niger, and Dr. Oudney had died of fever. 

And regretfully the two men abandoned, for the time, 
the expedition, and returned to England. 


127 


CHAPTER X 

IN A PERSIAN DESERT 

George Keppel, Earl of Albemarle—Overland from India—The 
muleteer’s warning—The three Bedawin—“ Peace !’*—Moun¬ 
tain scenery—A desert of stones—The caravanserai and its 
host—Robbers—The Shurgee—A false alarm—Ruins of Edsra 
Shereen—The real attack—Narrow escape of Lieutenant 
Hamilton. 

It is given to but few men to live to the age of ninety- 
two ; to fewer to crowd into even that wide span of 
time the adventures and experiences which chequered 
the career of the late George Keppel, Earl of Albemarle, 
who died in 1891. 

As a boy of sixteen he fought in the Battle of 
Waterloo, and before he was twenty had served in 
the Ionian Islands, at Mauritius, and at the Cape. 
In 1821 he was ordered to India, whence, after about 
two years’ service, he obtained leave for England. 

For some time he had been revolving in his mind 
a project which in those days was regarded as perilous 
in the extreme, if not utterly impossible—that of 
making the greater part of the homeward journey 
overland by way of Mesopotamia, Persia, the Cau¬ 
casus, and Russia. He had already acquired some 
128 


OVERLAND FROM INDIA 


considerable knowledge of the Persian tongue, inhabi¬ 
tants, and customs, on the strength of which he 
intended visiting the ruins of Babylon and the Court 
at Teheran. 

Thus in the month of January, 1824, with three 
brother-officers. Captain Hart, and Lieutenants Lamb 
and Hamilton, he set sail from Bombay to Bussorah, or 
Basra, a town near the point where the Euphrates and 
Tigris flow into the Persian Gulf. Travelling thence, 
now across sandy wastes, now over rocky hills or 
through fertile valleys, using as beasts of burden 
camels, horses, or mules, according to the nature of 
the country, they passed through Baghdad and on to 
Khanakin, meeting with no more exciting adventures 
than the minor annoyances or diversions which usually 
fall to the lot of a traveller in the East. 

But after leaving Khanakin they found themselves 
wandering through a treeless, grassless maze of 
ravines, cork-screw roads, and rocky passages between 
the hills, each opening affording an excellent ambush 
for wayside robbers. 

Hitherto on breaking camp the young officers had 
been in the habit of riding on ahead, leaving the Arab 
servants to strike the tents, and follow in their masters’ 
wake with the baggage-mules. But, after the first 
night’s stay on the road to Kermanshah, the chief of 
the muleteers approached Lieutenant Keppel with an 
air of combined mystery and fear, and held forth at 
some length as to the danger of losing the way, and 
the necessity of the party’s keeping together, which 
idea the Englishmen ridiculed. Waxing more and 
129 I 


THE MULETEER’S WARNING 


more serious the Arab began to speak with less reserve, 
imploring his masters not to ride out of sight for fear 
of the robbers who infested the district, and backed 
his entreaties by one or two stories as to the terrible 
fate which “ Frankish ” strangers had recently met 
with among those very hills. (To the Arab every 
European is a Frank, and has been since the First 
Crusade.) 

Keppel and his companions so far acceded to the old 
man’s request as to ride with the baggage as long as 
darkness and dawn lasted, but when the morning sun 
lit up the hills and ravines he and Lamb impatiently 
hurried onwards, tired of the slow pace of the mules. 
Presently, as the winding path along which they 
journeyed broadened out into a stony and moderately 
straight road, on which opened here and there on 
either side the mouth of a ravine, a clinking and creak¬ 
ing of horse-furniture ahead, though out of sight, 
warned them that they were not the only equestrians 
in those parts. 

While they were still discussing the advisability of 
returning to their companions, three Arabs, well 
mounted and armed, appeared from one of the ravines 
less than fifty yards in front of them, and drew bridle 
as though waiting for them to come up. The two 
soldiers were armed with swords and pistols, and were 
not disposed to retreat while the odds were only at 
three to two. Trying to appear unconcerned they rode 
on, neither quickening nor slackening the pace. Of 
course it was possible that the Arabs might be peace¬ 
able travellers armed only for safety. But, as the 
130 


THE THREE BEDAWtN 


distance between them lessened, Keppel had occasion 
to observe that the apparent leader of the httle band 
was certainly the most villainous-looking of all the 
black-browed sons of the desert he had yet encountered. 
This individual cast a searching glance at the two 
young men as though estimating their fighting strength 
and the value of their personal belongings. He 
bestrode an Arab horse of such superb mould that 
Keppel may be pardoned for wishing for a skirmish, 
the result of which might be the animal’s falling to 
him as the spoils of war. But suddenly, while some 
few yards still divided the two forces, the Bedawin 
turned sharply, and without a word, to the right, 
and rode on, contriving, by means of a slow trot, 
to keep from fifty to a hundred yards ahead. This 
continued for several miles, till at length the travellers 
descried another body of Arabs—a dozen on horse¬ 
back and nearly as many on foot, and all armed 
with matchlocks—stationed at a distant bend in the 
road. 

Seeing that the three robbers, if robbers they were, 
joined and mingled with this company, the Englishmen 
at once reduced their speed, allowing their friends to 
overtake them, and, thus reinforced, they cantered 
carelessly past the Bedawin. He of the Arab horse 
and ill-favoured countenance muttered the con¬ 
ventional desert salutation “Peace!” which Keppel 
returned, though privately of opinion that the good 
Bedawy’s speech belied his intentions. Then, as soon 
as the “ Franks ” had ridden a few yards, the entire 
band suddenly wheeled, rode away, and were soon 
131 I 2 


MOUNTAIN SCENERY 


lost in the hills, and the young Englishmen thought, 
perhaps with a twinge of regret, that this was the 
end of the matter. 

And now they entered on another change of land¬ 
scape, for they were approaching the ruins of Kisra 
Shereen, the way to which took them through a grassy 
valley watered by a little river. Here, too, were high 
mountains, their snow-clad summits, gilded by the 
afternoon sunshine, standing out in strong relief against 
the exquisite blue of an Asiatic sky ; a soothing sight 
indeed to eyes strained by overmuch dwelling on the 
dull gray of sand and rock ; a view that only fell short 
of perfection by reason of the entire absence of trees. 
They would have done well to pitch their tents on this 
spot, but, desirous of reaching Kisra Shereen before 
nightfall, they pressed on, in spite of the suffocating 
heat and of a formidable attack from an army of gnats 
whose bite was exceedingly painful, and which seemed 
to possess, in a highly developed stage, the special 
faculty of getting into the eyes of horses, mules, and 
men. The grass soon came to an end, and then came 
sand with but little vegetation, then shingle, and at last 
a wilderness of loose stones, varying in diameter from 
three to twenty inches, and impassable by horses save 
at a slow and painful pace. 

At sunset, when Keppel was despairing of finding 
any better place for his camp than these uninviting 
boulders and cobbles, they came in sight of a caravan¬ 
serai, flanked by village huts, built on a tiny oasis 
through which ran a brook, just then swollen by the 
melting of mountain snow to a rapid river ; and by 
132 


THE CARAVANSERAI AND ITS HOST 


the bank of this he selected the spot for their night’s 
repose. 

While preparations were being made for supper, 
the travellers were waited upon by a deputation con¬ 
sisting of the owner of the caravanserai and a score of 
country people. The host, without unduly vaunting 
the comforts of his establishment (a description of these 
unlovely abodes will be found in Chapter VI.), besought 
the strangers to take refuge therein for the night. 
Never, he affirmed, had there been so many robberies 
and murders as of late. Europeans of distinction were 
at any moment liable to attack from the numerous 
Bedawin of the hill-passes. As evidence of the dread 
with which these gentry were regarded, he pointed to 
the village, once populous and prosperous, but now 
entirely deserted, some few of its late inhabitants 
having taken up a permanent residence at the caravan¬ 
serai. His position as landlord, he continued, rendered 
him responsible to the Government for outrages com¬ 
mitted in his neighbourhood, but he could not guaran¬ 
tee the safety of the wanderers unless they would con¬ 
sent to pass the night under his roof. 

Now, this might be a true tale, and it might be 
a trap—the former, probably. By a curious coinci¬ 
dence, this was almost the very place in which Sir 
Robert Ker Porter had been attacked six years pre¬ 
viously. But our Lieutenant had already spent a 
night at a caravanserai, and preferred (with all respect 
to Hamlet) risking unknown and uncertain evils to 
rushing into the known and certain. Failing in his 
appeal, the host begged to be allowed the honour of 
133 


A FALSE ALARM 


posting a guard of twelve men over their camp. 
Knowing this to be one of the politer and more pic¬ 
turesque methods of Eastern hotel extortion, and 
feehng confident in the strength of his brother-officers 
and his guides, Keppel briefly declared himself in¬ 
dependent of any such protection, and the host had 
perforce to withdraw, comforting himself by muttering 
disquieting propheces. 

Left alone, the four young men turned to their supper, 
but for some reason the hilarity and general gaiety 
which had hitherto stamped the party was wanting. 
A south-easterly wind had risen, and the terrific heat 
of the day had changed to evening chill; everyone had 
a headache and pains in the limbs and joints; every¬ 
one was nervously irritable. No one wanted to eat. 
It was as though they had “ left their luck behind 
them ” ; the butter was rancid, the milk sour, 
and the other victuals had been liberally peppered 
with dust and grit. Nor was this the end of their 
troubles. 

Before they had been long asleep, they were dis¬ 
turbed by the sound of a musket-shot. While they 
were groping for their arms, other shots sounded ; 
yet all the time the strains of a damhuck (a sort of 
guitar) played by one of the servants, which had lulled 
them to sleep, still continued unaccountably. Scurry¬ 
ing through the tent-doors prepared for indiscriminate 
slaughter, they found, to their chagrin, that their men 
were only firing their guns to warn any robbers who 
might be in the neighbourhood that they were not to 
be caught napping. Administering cuffs and kicks in 
134 


RUINS OF KISRA SHEREEN 


lieu of bullets, the officers turned in again, and slept 
till daybreak. 

The wind had veered to the east again, and Keppel 
was surpised to find that with a change of wind had 
come a change of temper ; lassitude, lowness of spirits, 
and loss of appetite had all gone. He discovered after¬ 
wards that the previous night’s indisposition had been 
solely due to the south-east wind, whose effect on 
Europeans in that locality is to bring about all the 
symptoms of low fever. The Persian name for this 
wind is “ shurgee ” — probably akin to “sirocco.” 
The day was passed among the ruins of Kisra 
Shereen, a city built by Chosroes in honour of Shereen, 
who is said to have been a Christian Princess. 

The heat again became so intolerable that the 
Englishmen decided to travel by night and rest by day. 
Returning from the ruins, they learned that a strong 
force of brigands was in the vicinity, and might be 
expected to descend on them at any moment. 

At evening they lay down to sleep for an hour or two 
preparatory to continuing the journey ; but, having 
regard to the rumoured assault, Keppel first took the 
precaution of inspecting the camp. He carefully 
posted sentries at various points, and saw to the fasten¬ 
ings of the horses and mules, which were tied by a rope 
to a staple fixed in the ground. 

For greater security he had all the baggage piled 
together in the midst of the tents ; then, placing his 
sword and pistols ready to hand, he lay down in the 
tent which he shared with Lieutenant Hamilton. The 
latter was soon asleep, but his companion, though 
135 


THE REAL ATTACK 


desperately weary, was uneasy and wakeful. To-night 
there was no musketry practice among the servants ; 
the sentries had begun to take themselves seriously. 
Even the musically inclined had no mind for singing 
or playing, and the silence was unbroken save for the 
occasional rattle of loose stones under the hoofs of 
a restless mule. 

At last, just as a welcome drowsiness was coming 
over him, Keppel caught the unmistakable sound of 
men riding rapidly, and, before he could rouse his friend, 
several shots had been fired by the sentries. This 
time it was no false alarm ; the robbers had come. 

Keppel learned later that he had been followed all the 
way from Baghdad, a rumour having got about among 
the brigand tribes that the party consisted of an Ambas¬ 
sador and his suite, carrying treasure ; and if they had 
hitherto escaped attack it was due to a combination 
of bad generalship among the Arabs and a wholesome 
fear, on their part, of European weapons. These 
robber bands enjoyed the confidence and protection 
of a high official at Kermanshah, who shielded them 
from the law, financed them when in difficulties, and 
took the lion’s share of their plunder. 

Sword in hand, the officers hurried out into the dark¬ 
ness, stumbling over stones and tent-ropes towards the 
direction from which the firing came. On the east 
side of the camp a small gang of marauders were 
creeping among the horses, trying to cut the tough 
hair-ropes which held them. These, apparently, were 
the scum of the expedition, for the discharge of a few 
more pistols and guns, and one or two sword-cuts, set 
136 


THE REAL ATTACK 


them howling and running for their lives. The 
sentries were for pursuing them, but just then, from 
the other side of the camp, came the sound of musketry 
volleys, accompanied by shrieks of wounded men and 
horses. The attempted raid on the latter had doubt¬ 
less been a feint to draw the defenders away from the 
tents and the baggage, while the real attack was to 
be on the western side. 

As he reached the scene of battle, Keppel recognised 
his beetle-browed friend still mounted on the magnifi¬ 
cent horse. But, if fresh hopes of securing the prize 
arose in his mind, he was again disappointed ; for the 
Bedawin, finding their attempted surprise had failed, 
and that they were confronted by determined and well- 
armed men, picked up their wounded comrades, and 
vanished into the darkness without firing another shot. 

Once more Keppel lay down, and this time had no 
difficulty in falling asleep. He had slept, perhaps, half 
an hour when a rustling of the tent-canvas roused him. 
Springing up to a sitting posture, and peering through 
the gloom, he saw that the side of the tent straight 
in front of him was bulging inwards, as though some¬ 
one were leaning against it. Then a man’s hand and 
arm showed through a division of the tent, the hand 
obviously trying to undo the thong which joined the 
edges of the canvas. 

“ They’re on us again,” he whispered, leaning towards 
his chum’s mattress, as he stooped for a pistol; but 
his tent-fellow made no reply. 

“ Hamilton, wake up !” he shouted, as he cocked his 
pistol and took aim at the intruder. 

137 


t 

A NARROW ESCAPE 

“ All right, old man ; I am awake ; don’t fire !” 
The words, uttered between a laugh and a yawn, 
came from the mouth of the midnight visitant, who 
continued cheerfully: “I went out to borrow some 
tobacco of Lamb, and, when I got back, found that the 
door had stuck and wouldn’t open.” 

And Keppel, who had been but little disturbed by 
the attack of the Bedawin, was now struck with horror 
at having so nearly shot his friend. 


138 


CHAPTER XI 


PRISONERS IN THE CASPIAN DESERT 

The Turanian Desert—Lieutenant Conolly—S3nid Karaumut Allee 
—Perwullee—A Turcoman’s idea of water and of horse¬ 
rearing—Break-down of the camels—A Russian spy !—The 
mirage—Four mysterious horsemen—A Turco pipe—Treachery 
and betrayal—Taken to the camp—The baggage “ inspected ” 
—Abdullah’s dismal tidings—The Syud angry—Carried coast¬ 
wards—When rogues fall out; 

Along the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea lies the 
Turanian Desert, or, as it is sometimes called, “ the 
Caspian-Aral-Balkhash region”; a “ poor ” steppe, 
with no vegetation but the local saxaul: a salt desert 
of the most dreary sort. 

In the days when Moorcroft’s heroic journey to 
Bokhara was still fresh in men’s minds, before Atkinson 
had explored the Kirghis Steppes, and before Colonel 
Burnaby was born, a lad of two-and-twenty. Lieutenant 
Arthur Conolly of the Bengal Light Cavalry, set out 
across this desert in the hope of reaching Khiva. 

It will be remembered that Lieutenant Keppel and 
his companions had already set the fashion among 
Indian officers with a thirst for adventure of making the 
journey to or from England overland, and Conolly 
139 


SYUD KARAUMUT ALLEE 


who was returning from sick-leave, had resolved to 
reach India by way of Russia and Persia, thus passing 
over, in the opposite direction, much of the territory 
covered by Keppel six years previously. 

Crossing the Caucasus and riding through Tiflis he 
reached Tabriz in safety, and there met and became 
intimate with a “ Syud,” or Hindu noble, named 
Karaumut Allee, with whom he journeyed to Astrabad 
on the Persian shore of the Caspian, and who agreed 
to accompany him on the desert ride of four hundred 
miles to Khiva. 

On the fringe of the steppe they procured a night’s 
lodging in a Turco tent, and in the morning, when they 
were ready to start, found their host deep in conversa¬ 
tion with the guide, Perwullee, a venerable-looking 
old man who boasted of knowing every inch of the road. 

When they had started, ConoUy asked him what all 
the discussion was about. 

“ He says we must beware of robbers,” answered the 
guide. “ You have so much baggage that it may 
tempt them. But he has given me a token to his 
brother, who is a wealthy shepherd, and can, if need be, 
furnish us with an escort.” 

The baggage, though of little value, was certainly 
voluminous, for the Syud and the Lieutenant were 
passing for Hindu merchants. 

In a few days the water-skins w^ere empty, but the 
guide pointed out that in an hour or two the Attruk 
River would be reached. In due course the travellers 
came to the river, but found it nothing but a foul ditch. 
Perwullee, however, drank of it with gusto. “ But,” 
140 


BREAK-DOWN OF THE CAMELS 


says the Lieutenant, “ the sight determined me not 
to trust again to a Turcoman’s account of water.” 
Further on they came to a pool, the contents of which 
when boiled and flavoured with vinegar were drink¬ 
able but in no way appetizing. The next pool was 
two days’ journey distant, and when this was reached 
it was noticed that, whereas the camels were quite 
exhausted, the Turcoman’s horse seemed as fresh as 
ever. 

“ Why ?” asked Conolly. 

“ He is used to going short!” exclaimed Perwullee. 
“ See here !”—he pointed to the bit, at either end of 
which a little lump of fat was securely tied—“ that 
keeps his lips and tongue moist.” 

“ But you also give him no corn,” argued the Syud. 
“ And we seldom see any pasturage except coarse 
weeds which even the camels despise.” 

The old man grinned. 

“ He will eat the more when he gets home. There 
he is allowed to glut himself on corn, and so behaves 
well when the days of leanness come.” 

The camels, never very robust, were more used up 
than had at first appeared, and on the morrow Per¬ 
wullee offered to go to a neighbouring Turco camp 
to purchase a couple in place of two that were now 
useless. In a few hours he returned with the desired 
camels and accompanied by a Turco, who had also for 
sale a lamb and a skin of chaal (camel butter-milk). 

While the Syud discussed with Perwullee the merits 
of the new beasts of burden the Turco vendor came 
over to where Conolly stood, looked him sharply up 
141 


A RUSSIAN^SPY! 

and down, and laying his hand on his knife, said some¬ 
thing which the Englishman did not understand. 

“ What’s the matter with our friend ?” he asked of 
Abdullah, the Hindu’s Persian servant, a polyglot being 
who spoke Hindustani, Arabic, Turco, and English. 

Abdullah was staring in amazement, and stammered 
out: 

“ He says that you are a Russian spy.” 

The young officer simulated great anger, and 
shouted : 

“ You don’t know what you’re talking about! Eh ? 
What does he say ?” 

The Persian answered apologetically. 

“ That bluster will not take him in, and that if you 
are not a spy you have the appearance of one.” 

“You poor idiot! Should you know a Russian if 
you met him ? Have you ever seen one ?” 

Abdullah only translated a portion of the speech. 

“ No, and don’t want, except for the pleasure of 
cutting off his head.” 

“ You ought to be—confined to barracks,” growled 
Conolly, turning away as Perwullee came up to complete 
the purchase. 

During the next few days the air, which had been 
thick and heavy, grew clearer, and the travellers had 
an opportunity of observing more closely their sur¬ 
roundings. Hard by stood a mound which the guide 
pronounced to be the remains of a ruined city— 
Mesched-e-Misreaun, while beyond was the highest 
mountain-range the young men had ever beheld, 
though both had seen the Himalaya. 

142 


THE MIRAGE 


“ What are they ?” inquired the Syud in surprise. 

“ Hills—just hills,” said the guide stolidly. And 
before long the explorers found that all distant objects 
were magnified tenfold by one of those curious mirages, 
“ which,” says Conolly, “ in these deserts distort 
the appearance of everything. This jata Morgana 
was ever around us, now showing the appearance of 
a lake of water with whatever was near distinctly 
reflected in it, and in another view not only heightening 
distant objects, but seeming to separate and raise 
them from the earth. I shall not forget seeing a man 
in the distance leading two camels. The figures were 
lengthened out to spectral height, and anybody might 
have been excused for fancying them beings of another 
world. The people say that these illusions are caused 
by the refraction of the sun’s rays upon the salt soil ; 
there is salt enough in this desert to justify the sup¬ 
position. The appearance of the mirage was strongest 
when the air was still; in cloudy or windy weather 
there were only patches of thick vapour here and 
there.” 

That night they encamped at the top of a ridge, 
and next morning, as the camels were kneeling for 
their loads, four men on horseback rode up the slope 
so suddenly that, however ill their intentions might 
have been, there was no time to arm against them. 
One of them was instantly recognised as he who had 
sold the camels. 

Ignoring the travellers, the new-comers, having 
tethered their horses, beckoned Perwullee away, and a 
long muttered conversation ensued, at the end of which 
143 


A TURCO PIPE 


the old man suddenly ran to his horse, mounted, and 
rode away down the slope. 

“ Betrayed ! What an old hypocrite !” cried Conolly 
in amazement. 

“ Let us inquire,” said the Hindu, calling Abdullah 
to him. 

The interpreter approached his former acquaintance, 
but was met with sullen silence. Another Turcoman 
of more genial aspect, having unslung his water-sack, 
came with it, and sat down by the two travellers, and 
was promptly interrogated by Abdullah. 

“ Who is that man ?” asked the latter, pointing to 
the camel-vendor. 

“ That man ? He is the brother of the Turcoman 
with whom your merchants stayed at the edge of the 
desert. Did not Perwullee tell you that he had a 
token for him ?” 

Abdullah translated, and the friends exchanged 
astonished glances. 

“ Brigands are waylaying you, and we have come to 
guide you safely,” continued the stranger ; then with 
a threatening glance at the Persian, who was eyeing 
him searchingly, he added : “ What do you fear ? 
Be off and get me something to eat, while I smoke.” 

Abdullah obeyed, and the Turcoman began methodi¬ 
cally to pour water upon the ground till he had reduced 
a large patch to the consistency of moist clay. In this 
he scooped a small channel, along which he laid about 
three feet of whipcord ; then began to batter down the 
clay, leaving out the two ends of the string and burying 
the rest. When he had hammered to his satisfaction 
144 


TREACHERY AND BETRAYAI 


he drew forth the cord, opened out one of the holes 
which it left till it would hold the pinch of tobacco 
which he placed in it, then, moulding the second hole 
into a rough mouthpiece, ht the tobacco and began 
to smoke at his ease, lying full-length. 

But the supposed merchants were too ill at ease to 
give undivided attention to this extraordinary pro¬ 
cedure. It seemed all too clear that the arrival of 
the four men was part of an elaborate plot which the 
highly respectable Perwullee had woven. For a long 
while the friends discussed the position. Where had 
Perwullee gone ? For a reinforcement ? As matters 
stood, if it came to fighting there was little to be 
feared, for they were three against only four. Conolly 
was for driving off their disagreeable neighbours forth¬ 
with, but the Syud was older and more prudent. 

“ What is the use ? They will but fetch more. And 
where can we escape to ? No ; let us pretend to take 
them at their word, and use them as guides.” 

Meanwhile Abdullah had placed food before the 
unwelcome visitors, and could be heard conversing, 
then arguing, with them. Under pretence of going to 
his masters to beg some tobacco, he strolled over to 
where the young men sat. 

“ Be on your guard,” he murmured hurriedly. 
“ They are trying to persuade me to go back again ; 
they say that I am no longer necessary.” 

‘‘ Tell them we are ready to start,” said the Syud. 

In a minute the Persian came back. 

“ They say we must wait for the others,” he said. 

There was not long to wait. After a while Perwullee 
145 K 


TAKEN TO THE CAMP 


returned, and with him a dozen mounted men, 
armed with knives and muskets. These were “ the 
others.” 

“ They say they are ready now,” cried Abdullah, 
with a significant smile. 

The explorers received Perwullee with apparent 
friendliness, but, from his uncomfortable, shifty manner 
and evasive replies, they were more than ever convinced 
of his treacherous intentions. 

“ We are going to bear westward,” he mumbled, 
“ in order to avoid the brigands.” 

Though well aware that the new route was taking 
them away from Khiva, the travellers had no choice 
but to submit, and they rode on, regardless of their 
guides or captors, till evening. They kept Abdullah 
in their tent all that night to share the watch with 
them, but nothing unusual occurred. 

In the morning the Turcoman who had accused 
Conolly of being a spy, and he of the eccentric method 
of smoking, entered the tent, and inquired if they were 
ready to proceed. The Syud bade them sit down, and 
called Abdullah, who demanded to know whither they 
were being “ guided.” 

The brother of their former host answered curtly : 

“ To our camp.” 

“ Why ?” 

“You are Russian spies ; we are sure of it.” 

Conolly was seized with a happy idea. 

“ If you think so, then take us on to Khiva, and 
confront us with Russians.” 

“ No ; you must come to our camp.” 

146 


THE BAGGAGE “ INSPECTED 


“ Why not search our baggage if you insist that we 
are spies 

“We are going to—when you come to our camp.” 

And this was all the information obtainable. 

After another long day’s march, which the travellers 
suspected was taking them nearer to Astrabad again, 
they arrived at the Turco camp, and the two friends 
were lodged with one Istakour, who seemed a civil 
sort of person. Abdullah took him into their confi¬ 
dence, and, with promise of great reward, at length 
persuaded him to ride post-haste with a letter to the 
Syud’s friends in Astrabad. 

Next morning Perwullee and several Turcomans 
entered the hut. Conolly’s sword lay on the floor, and 
before he could reach it one of the brigands seized it 
“ as a present.” 

“ We are going to examine your baggage,” said the 
leader, “ for we believe you to be in possession of 
treasonable papers.” 

As probably not one of them could read or write, this 
seemed a lame excuse, but again resistance would be 
idle. And there was the blessed consolation that 
Istakour had been riding all night, and was well on 
the way to Astrabad. 

One by one the packages were unfastened, the 
robbers growing more and more sullen as they dis¬ 
covered nothing more valuable than cheap stuffs, or 
an occasional roll of inferior silk. At last they came 
to Conolly’s personal valise, and here were many 
things to excite cupidity. The bulk of his belongings 
were, of course, at Astrabad, but there were razors, 
147 K 2 


THE TURCOMAN’S CUPIDITY 


cigar-cases, linen, and various other items that appealed 
to Turcoman greed. There were also half a dozen 
books, Persian and English. Solemnly and reverently 
every man kissed each of these, because they were 
books, and therefore, to their way of thinking, holy, as 
being more or less remotely connected with the Koran ; 
and the Englishman laughed heartily, in spite of his 
perilous situation, to see a novel of Marryat’s and a 
copy of Byron’s poems thus venerated. 

At sight of a purse containing gold and silver cries 
of joy arose : at last they had found what they wanted ; 
and similar shouts greeted the discovery of a bag of 
money in the Syud’s portmanteau. 

As the last article of value was appropriated, the 
prisoners experienced a sensation of relief. Thus 
stripped of their belongings, they were worthless to 
their captors. 

“We are ready to go on now,” said the leader. 

“ Where ?” Abdullah asked. 

The man laughed. 

“ You were going to Khiva, you said.” 

“ Of what use is it to go to Khiva now that we are 
robbed ? You had better guide us back to Astrabad, 
and my masters will reward you.” 

The hint visibly appealed to some of the men, but 
the leader smiled ironically. 

“ Oh yes, we'll take you back to Astrabad. Get 
ready.” 

The robbers left the hut, but a knot of them gathered 
outside, and were soon in low-voiced consultation. 
Abdullah crept to the door, listened breathlessly, and 
148 


ABDULLAH’S DISMAL TIDINGS 


at length returned to his master, looking pallid and 
woebegone. 

“ What now 1” asked the Syud. 

Abdullah buried his face in his hands. 

“ We are to be taken down to the shore.” 

“ Is that all ? Then-But Istakour ?” 

“ And sold as slaves !” 

A slight shiver passed through the Syud, and 
Conolly sprang excitedly to his feet. 

“Not if we shoot every man of them ! Let them 
rather kill us !” he shouted. 

The more philosophic Hindu had recovered his 
coolness. 

“ Patience!” he whispered. “We shall contrive 
to escape.” 

Perwullee, hypocritical to the last, entered, and 
announced that the Turcomans awaited their “ guests.” 
For answer Conolly hurled one of his much revered 
books at the old villain’s head, and bade him begone; 
then the three prisoners left the hut, mounted their 
camels, and rode on behind their guards, six in number, 
including Perwullee. 

When they had ridden a mile or two Abdullah pulled 
abreast of his masters, and said excitedly: 

“ Listen to me. You two have managed this matter 
long enough, and a pretty mess you’ve made of it. 
Now let me take the lead. To-night when we encamp, 
and these men are asleep, we shall fall upon them, slay 
them, and flee towards Astrabad.” 

Conolly was about to reject the sanguinary proposal 
root and branch, but the Hindu said : 

149 


THE SYUD ANGRY 


“ Not yet; not to-night. Wait. I have no plan 
to offer, but I am convinced that we shall regain our 
liberty.” 

But Abdullah felt that life was at stake, and waxed 
impatient and insolent. 

“ Yah, Allee !” he shouted wrathfully. “ You will 
not listen to me ? Then get us out of their hands your¬ 
self. Did I not warn you not to come ? Did not 
your friends and kinsmen in Astrabad ?” 

The Hindu’s brow contracted ; it is not thus that a 
Syud is wont to be addressed by his servants. 

“ Dust on your head, son of a burned father !” he 
exclaimed. “ Is your life worth more than ours, that 
you make such an outcry about it ? Silence, you dog ! 
If you are killed, there will be but one ass less in the 
world.” 

The Syud’s sudden and unusual burst of wrath 
silenced the Persian, and he drew aside and mingled 
with the Turcomans. 

“ More treachery !” said ConoUy. 

The Syud said nothing, but touched the stock of one 
of the pistols concealed under his flowing outer robe. 
At dusk rain began to fall. Everyone dismounted, and 
a Are was lit. When they were seated round the Are 
over the evening meal, Abdullah crept close to the 
other two. 

“ We are to be murdered to-night,” he said. “ They 
have been quarrelling on the way ; some wish to sell 
us, but the rest fear lest we may escape and bring down 
vengeance on them. Have your pistols ready.” 

The night crawled slowly on, the three sleepless men 
150 


CARRIED COASTWARDS 


straining their ears for any sound from the enemy. 
At daybreak Perwullee was seen to rise to a sitting 
posture, then the others, and a conference ensued. 

“ Freedom !” whispered Abdullah ; “ they are quar- 
relHng again.” 

Voices rose higher, till there ceased to be any pre¬ 
tence at mystery or secrecy. Then a blow was struck, 
then another, and at last pistols and knives flashed in 
the dim firelight. 

“ Patience !” whispered Abdullah. “ I am going 
to speak to Perwullee.” 

In a quarter of an hour he came back. 

“ There is now a third faction,” he said, grinning. 
“ I have promised the old man that your Excellencies 
will write to Astrabad for a ransom. One of the Turco¬ 
mans will carry the letter, and Perwullee will guide 
us to the house of a Gazi chief, where the ransom 
should await us. If he prove false, I will blow his 
brains out.” 

The Syud moved nearer to the fire, and, by the dying 
blaze and the faint dawnlight, wrote to his friends in 
Astrabad. Abdullah disappeared with the letter, and 
in a few minutes one of the guides mounted, and rode 
swiftly away. 

“ That makes them only five,” said Conolly. “ Let’s 
make a dash for it.” 

The Persian shook his head. 

“ Do you forget where we are ? This desert is to 
the Turcomans just one great camp. A single shot, 
and they can in a few minutes be reinforced by twenty 
men, and our one chance is gone. Ha ! there is the 
151 


AVHEN ROGUES FALL OUT 


sun.” Raising his voice, he cried: “ Come along, 
Perwullee ; we are ready.” 

The old reprobate shambled to his horse, and Ab¬ 
dullah got ready the camels, while Conolly and the 
Hindu narrowly watched the remaining four men. 
But no resistance to the departure was made ; the 
guides were still squabbling when the travellers moved 
on, though there was doubtless an understanding 
between them and Perwullee as to the division of the 
ransom. For a couple of days the old man’s conduct 
hovered between insolence and servility, and at length 
he brought the explorers to the Cazi, who dwelt near 
the spot on the fringe of the steppe where they had 
first stayed, and who, when the ransom arrived, gave 
them safe conduct back to Astrabad. 


152 


CHAPTER XII 

AMONG TURCOMAN BRIGANDS 

Sir Alexander Burnes—Successful entry into Bokhara—Journey 
thence—The desert of the Oxus—A returning caravan, and a 
warning—The usual false alarm—The Persian prisoners—The 
Turco slave-traffic—Intolerable heat—Refuge among honest 
Turcomans—More warnings as to the “ Allamans ”—A whirl¬ 
wind and a mirage—Offers of shelter—The real robbers— 
Getting out of the difficulty—The real Allamans—A tarantula 
—Possessed by “ Shaitan.” 

It is worthy of note that our Indian army has given 
to the world some of its boldest and most successful 
explorers; and a book which relates some of the exploits 
of Tod, Moorcroft, and Burton should, in justice to his 
memory, also include mention of Sir Alexander Burnes, 
one of the most brilhant products of that army. As 
a boy of sixteen, he entered the Bombay Infantry, 
and soon displayed the same extraordinary gift for 
languages noticeable in Burton and Palgrave—so much 
so that when only twenty he became interpreter and 
Adjutant to the Quarter-Master-General’s Department. 

His skill in languages was almost equalled by a 
wonderful grasp of military tactics and aptitude for 
surveying, which led to his being despatched on various 
minor explorations ; and so successful was he that at 
153 


SUCCESSFUL ENTRY INTO BOKHARA 


the age of twenty-six he was allowed to attempt what 
Moorcroft, unauthorized, had achieved seven years 
earlier—the entry into Bokhara. 

Better equipped, and with better luck than his pre¬ 
decessor, he experienced little difficulty in making his 
way thither, through Afghanistan, and after a lengthy 
stay in the city—disguised as one of a company of 
petty traders—he joined a caravan that was proceeding 
across the Oxus and Caspian deserts into Persia, thus 
escaping from a locality where his life was seldom safe 
for two consecutive hours. 

Crossing the Amu (or Oxus) nearer to Bokhara than 
Moorcroft had done, the caravan tarried on its farther 
bank to lay in a stock of water. Every possible vessel 
was filled to overflowing, for ahead lay scarcely a single 
stream, scarcely a pool or well within several hundred 
feet of the surface the waters of which were drinkable ; 
nothing, in fact, but one vast ocean of salt or sand or 
indurated clay, in comparison with which, says Captain 
Burnes, “ the Indian deserts sank into insignificance.” 

Following the customary practice of Turco and 
Persian caravans, they started each day soon after 
noon, and marched till sunset; then followed two 
hours’ halt, and the drinking of much tea; then another 
march till dawn, with the stars for a guide ; then rest 
till midday. 

When they had been some days on the road, they 
were met by a returning caravan. 

“ You will never reach the Caspian,” was the en¬ 
couraging remark of the new-comers as they passed. 
“We have been lain in wait for or pursued for many 
154 


WARNING OF RETURNING CARAVAN 


days by the Allamans. Turn back with us, and save 
yourselves.” 

At the name “ Allamans,” a shiver ran through the 
Caspian caravan, and many of the merchants were for 
stopping ; others for returning. These Allamans were 
Turco robbers, who, in defiance of Khans and Cadis, had 
for years past infested this part of the desert, plundering 
wherever they dared. 

Burnes urged the continuance of the journey, and, 
as he had some little influence with the chief merchant, 
this was grudgingly agreed to. But two days after¬ 
wards, when over fifty armed men were seen riding 
rapidly towards the caravan—presumably those from 
whom their recent acquaintances were fleeing—the 
Captain became a very unpopular man. 

“ See what you have led us to !” cried the traders, 
as, bewildered with terror, they halted their camels 
and stared helplessly at the approaching force. 

Burnes laughed at their fright. 

“It is some escort,” he said. “ If your eyes were 
not blinded by fear, you would see that they are 
guarding some persons in their midst.” 

One of the younger merchants shaded his eyes with 
his hand for a moment, and made careful inspection. 

“ Bah! An escort ?” he muttered. “ Yes, of 
prisoners—which we shall soon be.” And he unslung 
his musket, which example a few others followed. 

Wearied of the cowardice or causeless alarm which 
the traders had throughout evinced, Burnes cried 
impatiently : 

“ Very well; if you think there is anything to 
155 


THE USUAL FALSE ALARM 


fear, I and my companions will advance to meet 
them.” 

“ And leave us Abuse was immediately changed 
into pleading, and, before the Captain could collect 
his little party, the robbers were halting a few yards 
away. 

“ Why do you wish to stop us ? We are doing no 
harm,” shouted their leader, pointing at the threaten¬ 
ing musket muzzles. 

The merchants breathed freely. Clearly these were 
no Allamans. 

“ You are free to pass, for aught we care,” answered 
the young merchant who had been the first to handle 
his gun. 

Burnes, laughing heartily to himself over this young 
man’s magnanimity and sudden courage, sat watching 
the new arrivals, and wondering what was the treasure 
they guarded. 

“ Do you wish to buy ?” shouted one of the Turco¬ 
man strangers. 

“ Buy what ?” 

The man turned his head and said to someone behind 
him : 

“ Bring up the merchandise.” 

Those in the front rank of the supposed robber gang 
moved aside, disclosing seven wretched-looking men 
tied in their saddles, who were now led forward. 

“ How did you come by these ?” asked Burnes, 
assuming the Eastern’s indifference to the ill-treatment 
or sufferings of his fellow-men. Two words of the pity 
and indignation which he felt would have betrayed him 
156 


THE TURCO SLAVE-TRAFFIC 


more effectually than if he had thrown off his disguise ; 
and probably have led to his making an eighth captive. 

The Turcoman laughed carelessly. 

“ Oh, in the ordinary way of business. They are 
Persians. Will you buy And a price was quoted 
for each prisoner as glibly as if they had been camels 
or negro slaves. 

For the first time the young explorer regretted what 
had hitherto been his safeguard in his wanderings—his 
having brought little money or valuables ; a round sum 
would have bought freedom for these Persians. He 
turned away, and attempted to sound the depths of 
the caravan leader’s benevolence. But that worthy 
frankly disowned any humane sentiments. 

“ Don’t think of buying,” he whispered with eager 
caution. “ If you do, these men will follow us and, 
on some pretext or other, recapture the prisoners and 
keep the money.” And the young officer’s endeavours 
in the poor wretches’ behalf had perforce to stop short 
at a few kindly words, with trifiing gifts of money, 
tobacco, and tea. 

Till quite recently this horrible traffic in Persians, 
Kurds, and Circassians has been carried on for 
centuries among the Turcomans. Without warning, a 
well-armed and well-trained troop of man-catchers 
would spring from nowhere, swoop down on peaceful 
caravan or village, seize all live-stock, and carry off 
those of the people who were not slain to the nearest 
slave-market. 

Sick at the sight of misery which, single-handed, he 
dared not attempt to relieve, Burnes hinted to the 
157 


INTOLERABLE HEAT 


caravan leader that it would be well to hasten out of 
bad company, a suggestion which everyone listened to 
and obeyed with alacrity. 

A few miles further on, the heat, which even at night 
had been unusually great, became intolerable, and, 
after toiling painfully and sullenly along, the camels 
at last stopped of their own accord, and dropped on 
their knees, where they crouched, seemingly in great 
agony. 

“ The sand is overheated!” cried one of the older 
and more experienced merchants. 

Burnes alighted and felt the ground. It radiated 
heat like a boiler-plate, and, on testing with a ther¬ 
mometer, the Captain found it to be over 150° F. 

“What is to be done?” he asked. “We cannot 
stay here.” 

The old merchant alighted, and picked his way across 
some sparse brushwood to the top of a ridge on the 
right. Returning, he said : 

“ There is a Turcoman camp yonder. We shall 
perhaps get shelter and a drink of camel’s milk there ;” 
and, with blows and pushing and pulling, the exhausted 
camels were urged down the ridge. 

When a Turcoman is not a thief he is a pattern of 
hospitahty; he can, indeed, be both. At this particular 
encampment honesty and good-heartedness prevailed ; 
also loquacity ; and again awful tales of the deeds, or 
misdeeds, of the Allamans were dinned into the ears of 
the shuddering traders. 

At sunset they started off again over the still burning 
sand,^and by morning it was seen that the heat of the 
158 


A WHIRLWIND AND A MIRAGE 


previous day had come as a storm warning ; for, though 
the subsequent rain was limited to a momentary angry 
shower, the rest-camp was no sooner constructed than 
one of the tents was torn up by the wind and blown 
across the desert. Burnes’ Indian servant—and sup¬ 
posed apprentice—was starting in pmsuit, when one 
of the merchants checked him. 

“ Look at that,” he said, pointing to the place 
where the tent had stopped. The Hindu did not 
understand the words, but the sight to which his 
attention was drawn spoke for itself. A spiral column 
of dust had begun to rise like a great waterspout from 
the earth, the result of a whirlwind; and had the tent 
come within its cycle, that, too, would have been twisted 
round as easily as were the twigs of brushwood which 
whirled upwards. 

The wind gradually lulled, the black clouds drifted, 
and in place of them rose, in mirage, a picture of a 
wide river glistening and rippling between high, shady 
banks—a sight which, tantalizing though it was, was 
grateful to the young Captain’s eyes after the tiring, 
endless miles of sand and salt to which they had become 
miserably habituated. 

As the travellers set off again, a Turcoman rode up, 
warned them that the Allamans were at hand, and 
offered them refuge till the robbers had passed, at a 
camp which lay almost on their route. Prudence 
counselled them to accept the chance of security held 
out to them, and, guided by the stranger, all proceeded 
to the Turco encampment, large enough to deserve 
the style of “ village.” 


159 


THE REAL ROBBERS 


They passed the remainder of the day and the 
succeeding night in this place, and, by morning, began 
to think that in avoiding one set of thieves they had 
fallen into the hands of another, for a pony belonging 
to one of the merchants, with various packages and 
small articles, had disappeared. Further, as Burnes 
sauntered about the camp, he overheard a few words 
of conversation between their guide of the day before 
and one of the Turco chiefs. The latter was evidently 
asking questions as to the belongings and probable 
wealth of the traders. 

While the Captain was warning the caravan leader 
this chief came up, and substituting for his cheery and 
hospitable bearing of the previous night a curt, 
magisterial manner, asked one or two searching ques¬ 
tions as to the whence, whither, constitution, and 
value of the caravan. After appearing to consider 
carefully the answers given him, he said : 

“ I must detain you here till I know the Khan’s 
pleasure concerning you.” 

The two travellers exchanged glances ; both knew 
what that meant. The caravan leader paled between 
anger and terror ; Burnes slipped his hand into his 
merchant dress and felt for a pistol as a ghastly vision 
of the Persian prisoners being hauled off to lifelong 
slavery began to haunt him. But his close observation 
and knowledge of the Asiatic character came to his 
aid. 

“ Have you informed your Khan that we are here ?” 
he asked sharply. 

The chief smiled. 


160 


GETTING OUT OF THE DIFFICULTY 


“ Not yet,” he admitted. 

“ Will the other chiefs inform him ?” 

The Turcoman smiled more broadly, though with a 
tinge of anxiety, and again said : 

“ Not yet.” 

“ And would you not rather see that we have safe 
conduct away, you yourself having received a hand¬ 
some present from my friend here ”—the caravan 
leader nodded eagerly—“ than share our wealth with 
your fellow-chiefs, after we have done all in our power 
to defend it ?” Inadvertently the young officer let 
his robe fall aside, disclosing a sword-hilt arid his hand 
on a pistol-stock, and added : “ Some of you will not 
be well enough to do much sharing when the fight is 
over. I personally shall take care that you are in no 
condition to profit by our defeat.” 

The man examined the fighting strength of the 
caravan with a swift glance round, then clutched at a 
last straw. 

“ The Allamans ?” he hinted. 

“ Would as soon rob you as us—sooner if they 
thought you had acquired our goods.” 

The Turco chief shrugged his shoulders. 

“ Very good. I will take the present.” 

“ When we have collected our men, and are all 
ready to start,” retorted the shrewd young Scotch¬ 
man. “ Till then, beware how you attempt any 
treachery.” 

The collecting was a work of time, for those traders 
who had lost nothing wished to stay a day longer, and 
had to have matters privately explained to them. 

161 L 


THE REAL ALLAMANS 


Then, while the camels were being loaded, a shout 
went up : “ The Allamans !” 

Halting outside the palisade was a small company 
of fine-looking men seated on powerful horses, and 
armed with lances, swords, and muskets. 

“ How do you like the look of them ?” whispered the 
Turco chief to Captain Burnes, seeking to increase 
the amount of his “ present.” “ Suppose we took 
sides with them against you ?” 

Confident that the cowardice of his merchant friends 
was not yet apparent, the young man answered coolly : 

“ Suppose we did the same against you ? You have 
more horses and camels to lose than we, and you have 
women and children, who would sell well.” 

The chief shivered, and retired abashed, while, 
deceived by the apparent alfiance and combined 
strength of camp and caravan, the Allamans followed 
his example, and the danger was past. 

As the Turco chief received his gift from the merchant, 
both, with a start of fear, sprang backwards, and 
Burnes saw running towards them a creature resembhng 
a gigantic spider, with legs like lobster claws. 

“ A tarantula !” screamed the chief. 

The Captain had his gun in his hand, and as the evil¬ 
looking thing approached let the stock fall on it. The 
Turcomans say that, unhke the Itahan tarantula, this 
creature does not bite, but squirts venom on anyone 
whom it touches. Thus freed from the assaults of 
Turcomans, Allamans, and spiders, the caravan passed 
on its way. 

Before the journey was resumed Burnes was 
162 


POSSESSED BY SHAITAN 


attracted by a great outcry to a group of the traders 
gesticulating in a corner of the camp. Approaching, 
he found a camel foaming at the mouth, making 
dolorous moans, and refusing food or drink ; three men 
manufacturing torches and heating irons in the fire, 
and half a dozen more giving advice, loudly, simul¬ 
taneously, and divergently. 

“ The camel is possessed by the devil,” answered 
one in response to a query from the Captain; and others 
cried : “ Shaitan ! Shaitan is in him, and must be 
driven out.” 

The camel was in a fit. 

When irons were heated and torches lighted, the 
ceremony of exorcism began. First the torches were 
waved before the animal’s eyes, the effect being to 
increase its terror. Then, one by one, the red-hot 
irons were passed slowly backwards and forwards 
above the head and neck, so close that the skin and 
hair were singed. 

At last patience was rewarded, and a chorus of 
triumph arose. Shaitan had departed elsewhere. 
Not for the first time superstition and science had fixed 
upon the same remedy, and the camel was cured. 


L 2 


163 


CHAPTER XIII 


ACROSS THE PAMPAS 

The Hon. Peter Campbell Scarlett—From Buenos Ayres to Val¬ 
paraiso—The Argentine horse—The hospitable post-hut— 
Mate —Short of water—Another hut—Kilhng the supper and 
getting nearly killed in so doing—A faithful guide and a lasso 
—Mosquitoes—Thistles ten feet high—South American deserts 
—The biscacha and his ways—Attacked by the teru-tero — 
“ Indians !”—The Gaucho garrison—Mistaken—Cheering in¬ 
formation !—The heat—The 'pampero —Gauchos and cattle¬ 
taming—The Andes ?—A swarm of benchuchas —Dangers of 
dreaming in the desert. 

Though to Alexander von Humboldt belongs the credit 
of giving to the world a more intimate knowledge of the 
Venezuelan llanos ^ it is mainly to our own great 
scientist Charles Darwin * that we owe the bulk of 
our reliable information concerning the pampas of 
Southern South America. But his own account of 
them, as given in “ The Voyage of the Beagle^^ is too 
widely known to caU for repetition or quotation here, 
and the journey and adventures of a somewhat less 
celebrated pampas explorer will, no doubt, be more 
acceptable to the general reader. 

* And, in a less degree, to Sir F. Head, Colonel King, and other 
English or American travellers. 

164 


HON. PETER CAMPBELL SCARLETT 


By a curious coincidence, during the identical year 
(1835) in which Professor Darwin was pursuing his 
investigations in the pampas, another Englishman— 
the Hon. Peter Campbell Scarlett (brother to the 
leader of the charge of the Heavy Brigade)—was 
occupied in crossing South America, from Buenos Ayres 
to the Pacific coast. Like Bruce, Palgrave, Burton, 
and some other explorers of renown, he was a member 
of the diplomatic profession, and, after serving for 
some years on the Paris Embassy (during which he 
was taken prisoner by the mob, in the 1830 Revolution), 
he was attached to the British Consulate at Rio de 
Janeiro. On his homeward journey thence, he went 
to the La Plata capital, and from there started across 
country to Valparaiso, accompanied by his friend 
Dr. McLean, a couple of servants, and a half-breed 
Spanish Indian, whose stature was six feet six inches. 

After the glowing descriptions which they had read 
of the Argentine horses, the travellers were somewhat 
disconcerted to find that the best specimens that the 
servants could procure for them were the sorriest- 
looking nags their eyes had ever beheld—unshod, raw- 
boned, and possessed of every vice and ailment known 
to the equine race. Less than twenty miles from 
Buenos Ayres, the steed which Mr. Scarlett bestrode 
declined to move beyond walking pace, and, while man 
and beast debated the point, one of the baggage horses 
lay down, burst his girths, and, leaping to his feet 
again, fied back towards the town at a greater speed 
than his owners had yet had reason to believe him 
capable of. 


165 


THE HOSPITABLE POST-HUT 


More than nine hundred miles lay between them and 
the Pacific, and the doctor calculated that, at the 
present rate of travel, Valparaiso would be reached 
about twenty years from that time. Fortunately, one 
of the Gauchos (natives, of half-Spanish blood) from 
the next post-hut was near at hand, and, being well 
mounted, soon caught the fugitive and brought him 
back to servitude. 

By the time the party was in marching order once 
more, twilight had fallen, and a fresh obstacle arose ; 
for, though the guide was familiar with the ground by 
day, his knowledge with regard to the swamps and 
bogs which continually appeared in the path was not 
minute, and every step in the growing darkness 
threatened to land the horses in the midst of a morass. 

At last, when Scarlett was trying to reconcile himself 
to a night in the swamps, the guide shouted that they 
were “ there.” “ There ” could not at first be distin¬ 
guished in the now black darkness, but, as the half- 
breed pulled up, the travellers, after hard staring and 
straining, made out the form of a large wooden 
building, which the guide said was the post-hut. 

To rouse the occupants was a work of time, and when 
it was accomplished, the wayfarers learned that “ there 
was no supper to spare,” but that sleeping accommoda¬ 
tion might be had in a detached hut—“ a mud hovel, 
dedicated to poultry and travellers.” Here the 
belated ones lay down and slept, supperless and on the 
floor. 

In the morning the post-mistress entertained them 
with a boiled hen of great antiquity and some eggs ; 

166 


MATE 


but when they asked for bread, she assumed a surprised, 
half-injured expression. What time did they suppose 
she had for bread-making ? Or did they think to find 
an enterprising baker carrying on a shop thirty miles 
from Buenos Ayres and six hundred from Mendoza ? 
And, throughout the journey, Scarlett foundj^that^bread 
was generally regarded by the Gaucho people as either 
a useless and extravagant commodity or a priceless 
luxury. 

Could they not have some drink, then ? By all 
means; the drink was coming. It came—in calabashes 
(dried gourd-shells) and steaming hot, each vessel being 
supplied with what looked like a stick, but proved 
to be a wooden tube. The beverage was mate, more 
to be desired among the Indians and Gauchos than any 
tea or coffee. The mate is a kind of wild holly, which 
grows principally in Paraguay and Peru. The branches 
having been scorched slightly with flame, the leaves 
are picked, roasted and packed, and sent to all parts 
of South America. The drink is made in the same way 
as tea, and is sucked through a wooden or metal tube. 

On leaving the hut, the travellers found themselves 
free of the swamps and on moderately smooth turf. 
This, however, did not last long, for they were soon in 
the land of thistles, where water is not, except at a great 
depth, and which offers to the stranger a foretaste of 
the desert that lies beyond. The speed and general 
conduct of the horses showed some amount of improve¬ 
ment till after midday, when they began to flag for 
want of drink. 

A good quantity of water had been brought from 
167 


SHORT OF WATER 


tlie hut, but the servants had used it without regard to 
economy, so that only a pint or two remained ; and 
now the guide assured his masters that no more would 
be forthcoming till the swamp beyond the next post- 
house was reached. This was Scarlett’s first experience 
of the terrors of thirst, and he was half minded to give 
up the journey, till the half-breed cheered him with the 
promise that at the post-hut he would be able to pro¬ 
cure horses whose swiftness would lessen the chances of 
their being long at a time away from water. 

An hour before sunset the halting-place was reached, 
and the thirsty adventurers clamoured for drink and 
food. Drink was to be had in plenty, but the post¬ 
mistress had no food to offer. Growing desperate, 
McLean offered to buy and slaughter one of the oxen 
that were grazing hard by. But the good dame re¬ 
jected the offer; the cattle were not hers to sell. 
Travellers generally brought their own provisions. 
Perhaps the sehors would like to shoot some of the birds 
at the swamp ; or—there were wild pigs a few miles 
away ! 

Scarlett, the better marksman, hurried off, gun in 
hand, to the swamp, where, by a lucky shot, he brought 
down a couple of large water-birds. One of them 
fluttered some distance away, and by the time the 
sportsman had recovered it he began to think that his 
supper might be yet further delayed. 

The shot had alarmed and collected an enormous 
herd of cattle, which, under the leadership of an old 
bull, were coming towards him. At first it seemed as 
though they were simply being driven down to water, 
168 


UNEXPECTED DANGER 


but, from the ominous manner in which the leader and 
several bulls with him suddenly stopped and pawed the 
ground, while the left and right wings of the force con¬ 
tinued their trot, it began to look more like a concerted 
attack ; and the victim already saw himself cut off from 
escape—behind, the swamp ; before him, the bulls, 
which stood still; and on either side, a file, part of 
which had already passed him, and was stretching to 
the water’s edge. 

Scarlett’s second barrel was still charged with small 
shot, which, though no protection against a rush, 
might, if carefully distributed among them or over their 
heads, have the effect of putting the oxen to flight; 
and, pointing the gun in the air, he fired. The result 
was unexpectedly satisfactory : every bull, cow, heifer, 
and steer turned tail and fled. 

The victor laughed loudly, and set off running 
towards the hut, seeking to accelerate the flight of the 
oxen with a wild shout. This was ill-judged. In¬ 
stantly, as though annoyed at being objects of derision, 
the bulls in the central curve of the half-circle that had 
been widening round him stopped and faced him again. 
Seeing their champions turn to bay, all the other oxen 
did the same, and in another minute the widening 
semicircle became transformed into a rapidly narrowing 
circle. 

Scarlett stood still, more from anger and mortifica¬ 
tion than from fear. The position was so undignified. 
Had the enemy been a pack of wolves, a herd of buffa¬ 
loes, or a score of Indians, his death at their teeth, 
horns, or hands, would have been at least an honour- 
169 


A PERSISTENT BULL 


able one ; but there was a hideous ignominy in being 
gored or trampled or kept prisoner, while he bellowed 
for help, by a drove of seemingly tame and peaceful 
cattle. 

The bull in command lowered his head, erected his 
tail, and pawed the ground anew. Scarlett began to 
hate that bull; but for him the others would have gone 
away peaceably enough. It happened that, on alight¬ 
ing at the hut, he had not stopped to remove his sword- 
belt ; and knowing that, if the brute charged, the gun 
would make but a poor pole-axe, he dropped it and 
drew sword, preferring to rely on his agility and the 
chance of a successful throat or rib thrust. 

Still the bull moved no nearer, albeit the circle of 
horns was steadily closing in on the luckless man, and 
already he could hear heavy breathing or an occasional 
snort only a few feet behind him. If he must be gored 
or butted, he preferred to have the operation per¬ 
formed in his sight; and, seeing no escape to left or 
right, he began to walk slowly towards the bulls facing 
him. 

His moving again startled some of the animals, which 
drew back a pace ; but the ringleader, with a menacing 
bellow, began to move in his direction, tail in air, at a 
trot, which Scarlett knew—from havmg watched a bull¬ 
fight—^would, without any warning, be altered to a blind, 
headlong dash. Again he looked on all sides. The circle 
had become two roughly parallel lines, and the space 
between them so narrow that only by a miracle would he 
be able to avoid the creature’s rush; for, no matter which 
side he sprang, it would be against a hedge of horns, 
170 


THE GUIDE’S LASSO 


and he had no guarantee that the onlooking cattle would 
observe strict neutrality. 

There was just the chance that a sudden shout and 
feigned charge might scare the foe, and, with a yell that 
might have been heard half a mile away, the captive 
sprang forward. The bull stopped dead, raised his head, 
glared at the man, and again began to stamp irritably 
with his fore-feet. The distance between the two was, 
at the most, seventeen yards, and these Scarlett now 
reduced by two as he leapt forward, again shouting and 
brandishing his sword. This time the bull was not to 
be intimidated, however. He bent his head, so low that 
he seemed to be biting his own knees ; raised it again, 
till back and horns were in a line ; then, with nostrils 
distended and tail lashing, charged at his foe. 

To Scarlett the earth seemed to be heaving like a great 
wave ; a red mist rose before his eyes, and the cry which 
he strove to utter would not rise above an agonized pant. 
Heedless of more remote evils, he sprang to one side, 
and instead of falling, as he had expected, against a wall 
of ox-heads, he touched nothing till he stumbled over his 
scabbard and fell headlong, while thunderous reverbera¬ 
tions shook the ground beneath him. 

He sat up and looked wonderingly about him. The 
herd was far away, and its stampede had been the cause 
of the rumbling which he had heard. Just a few yards 
away lay his assailant, writhing and struggling to free 
himself from the end of a lasso which held his horns 
prisoner, while the other end was in the firm grasp of the 
gigantic half-breed. 

Hearing the shouts, he and the doctor had come out- 
171 


MOSQUITOES 


side, and when they grasped the situation, each had set 
about the rescue in his own fashion : McLean by charging 
the herd, armed with a ten-foot pole, and the haK-breed 
with a lasso, both shouting at the top of their voices, 
but unheard by Scarlett, whose senses were otherwise 
engaged at the time. 

When the birds were plucked, cooked, and eaten, the 
travellers retired to their sleeping apartment—an im¬ 
provement on that of the previous night, in so far as it 
was not a hen-roost and was provided with hammocks. 
But the thoughtful mind that had supplied the latter 
had been unequal to the further effort of providing 
mosquito-curtains, and the night was one long agony, 
owing to the assaults of those formidable gnats. 

In the morning the guide fulfilled his promise as to 
improved means of locomotion, and the two Enghshmen 
found him chaffering with a Gaucho over half a dozen 
excellent horses. With these the journey was resumed 
in comfort, though the travellers were now embarked on 
such a sand-desert as they had believed to belong solely 
to Africa or Asia. 

In those days the pampas extended for nearly nine 
hundred thousand square miles—and their area to-day is 
not appreciably less. Of this acreage much is rich soil, 
covered sometimes with grass or clover, sometimes with 
thistles, often ten feet in height. But, for the more part, 
the pampas must be regarded as waste lands, including 
as they do the sand-desert of El Gran Chaco ; the great 
salt-desert near the Andes (Las Salinas); and five 
terraces, seven hundred miles in length, of shingle- 
desert. Even the more fertile portions Mr. Scarlett 
172 


THE BISCACHA AND HIS WAYS 


describes as equal to the Sahara in dreariness and 
monotony. 

Excellent as were the new horses, they could not, as 
dusk grew on, insure their owners against the dangers 
of the hisaxcha holes with which the plain was dotted ; 
and one went lame, while others continually stumbled 
or threatened to throw their riders. The hiscacha is a 
kind of badger which burrows like a rabbit, and by night 
his hole, or the moimd near it, is a snare for unwary 
horses. By day there is no danger, as Scarlett found on 
the morrow, when they came to a second hiscacha warren. 
Each hole was guarded* by an owl, that stood solemnly 
sentry over it, possibly attracted by the hope of prey 
from among the heap of rubbish that the hiscacha drags 
to his hole. The little creature has the strange habit of 
collecting at the burrow’s mouth a mound of whatever 
small, hard objects he can roll along or carry—stones, 
bones, stalks, etc.; and Darwin heard it seriously stated 
that, when any small article is lost on the plain, the 
losers generally succeed in finding it by searching the 
heaps, and that in this manner a gold watch was dis¬ 
covered two days after the loss of it. 

By evening the riders were free of the burrows, but it 
was only to meet with a new difficulty. They suddenly 
heard a great screeching and rustling, then a whiz, as of 
some weighty body hurled through the air, and each 
man felt a heavy blow in the face—in the case of the 
doctor accompanied by scratching which drew blood. 

“ Bats !” cried Scarlett, striking out viciously at a 
dark object which circled round him in the gloom ; “ and 
as big as crows !” 


173 


- INDIANS !” 


“ No, senor,” explained the guide. “ They are teru- 
tero ; plague on them !” 

The teru-tero, like our peewit and many other birds, 
derive their name from the sound of their cry ; they are 
of the horned plover species, and are fierce and vicious in 
the extreme, “ appearing to hate mankind, and deserving 
to be hated for their never-ceasing harsh and unwearied 
screams.”* 

A few discharges of small shot kept the birds at a dis¬ 
tance, though many of them followed threateningly till 
the post-house was reached. 

Here a scene of great disorder presented itseK : a 
crowd of Gauchos, armed with pistols, clubs, or guns, sat 
over the fire, some cooking or eating their supper ; others 
shouting, gambling, gesticulating, squabbling, or laugh¬ 
ing. Scarlett asked : “ Why the arms ?” 

“ Indians,”t was the universal reply. 

Then followed a disconnected and noisy narrative. 
At the next village the savages had appeared in great 
force, had burnt some huts, threatened the lives of the 
occupants, and decamped with all the cattle and horses 
they could seize. 

McLean looked deprecatingly roimd at the defenders. 
Brave they were, beyond dispute, but disorganized and 
disunited to the last degree ; and neither he nor Scarlett 
was sufficiently skilled in warfare to offer himself as 
leader, even if there were any chance of the offer being 

* Darwin, “Voyage round the World.” 

t It may be remembered that the celebrated General Eosas— 
afterwards Dictator—was still carrying on his campaign against 
the Indians, side by side with his rebellion. 

174 


THE GAUCHO GARRISON 


accepted. Tired though they both were, sleep was out 
of the question, and, having loaded their guns and 
pistols with ball, they sat down to sup and to await 
events. 

They had finished eating, and were quietly discussing 
their plans in English, when a woman’s scream arose 
from the back of the house : 

“ The Indians ! The Indians are coming !” 

The laughter ceased, and every man sprang to his feet 
and his weapons. Some wanted to barricade the doors, 
others to open them and meet the onrush ; dogs barked, 
women wailed, and men shouted, while horses and hens, 
ducks and cattle, added their voices to the general din. 

Across the plain came the dull beat of horses’ hoofs, in 
full gallop, towards the hut; in less than a couple of 
minutes the house would be encircled. The two English¬ 
men’s minds were fairly at rest; the half-breed and the 
two servants were fully rehable and well able to defend 
themselves and guard the horses, and both the doctor and 
Scarlett were expert swordsmen. 

As the galloping drew nearer, the latter, after listening 
as closely as the uproar would allow, turned sharply to the 
oldest of the Gauchos. 

“Do yom Indians always carry swords, and wear 
spurs and sabre-taches 1” he asked, smihng. 

The Gaucho stared, listened carefully, and broke into 
a hearty laugh. 

“ The sehor is right,” he shouted to his fellows. “ Undo 
the doors. It is Rosas’ cavalry, after the Indians.” 

And the next moment the horsemen puUed up at a 
command shouted in Spanish, and the officer was heard 
175 


CHEERING INFORMATION 


asking for accommodation for his troop. With the house 
thus garrisoned, the travellers lay down to sleep in peace, 
and the Gauchos wandered away to their own huts. 

In the morning Scarlett sought out the officer, and 
asked as to the hlmlihood of meeting Indians. 

“ You may as weU go on as stay here,” was the reply. 
“ We are just off again after them ; they are here, there, 
and everywhere. If they were now plundering this 
place, they would be thirty miles away in a couple of 
hours or so, for they have the best horses in the country. 
Whether you go forward or back, you may fall into their 
hands.” 

The intelligence was not of a cheering nature, but its 
truth seemed undeniable, and the Englishmen saw no 
better course than to continue their journey. 

By midday they came to a good-sized hut—the first of 
half a dozen or more—^which proved to be a general store 
kept by a Frenchman, evidently with a thirst for mono¬ 
poly. He came outside at their approach, greeted them 
courteously, and warned them against the Indians ; and, 
from his description of what had taken place there, they 
gathered that the hamlet was the scene of the attack of 
which they had already heard. 

As the heat had become insufferable, they decided 
to pass the afternoon and night here, and to set off again 
at sunrise. This they did, and made good pace till noon, 
when the heat grew so terrific that they were glad to 
dismount and he down under what little shade they could 
improvise. From twelve till three in the hot season few 
people on the pampais think of doing anything but sleep¬ 
ing ; at other times the heat is not inordinate, and, as 
176 


THE “PAMPERO 


evening gathers, men are often glad of their thickest 
clothing and rugs. 

After a couple of hours’ siesta, Scarlett was roused by 
an intense and inexplicable feeling of chill, and as he 
awakened the doctor the surface of the desert suddenly 
seemed to lift itself in a great sheet, and wrap itself round 
him, while a sharp, icy gale arose, thickly powdering 
everyone with stinging sand. 

“ Pampero /” cried the guide. “ Guard your eyes, 
sehors.” And no second bidding was necessary. The 
pampero is a powerful westerly cold wind, one of the 
north-west currents that sweep across the Andes towards 
the Atlantic, and from its extreme dryness has the effect 
of withering whatever vegetation it passes over. 

At the next two or three stopping-places there were 
still horrific stories to be told of Indian depredations ; 
and, on coming to an important cattle-farm, the travellers 
took advantage of the protection afforded by the presence 
of a large number of Gaucho cow-boys to indulge in a 
day’s rest. 

While here, Scarlett had an opportunity of watching 
the deftness and skill of the Gauchos in the management 
of cattle, for a newly-captured herd was to be branded 
that day. His account is as follows : 

“ For this purpose, the imtamed herd was shut into 
the corral, and horsemen with lassoes were admitted 
to noose them. To avoid being caught, they frequently 
made a rush at the barrier, and, breaking it down, two 
or three effected an escape, and galloped over the plain. 
Then was seen the wildest chase imaginable. A Gaucho 
was despatched after the fugitives at full speed, whirling 
177 M 


GAUCHOS AND CATTLE-TAMING 


the lasso round his head, and soon skilfully noosing the 
object of his pursuit by the horns. Upon this, the horse 
was suddenly wheeled short round, and down came the 
poor captive with a shock apparently rude enough to 
break all his bones. When he rose again, the Gaucho 
did not give him an instant to think, but dragged him at a 
quick pace back to the corral, the horse straining every 
nerve to puU along his prisoner. Arriving in a breathless 
state of rage and fear, the animal was again thrown down, 
and a man with a hot iron branded him on the flank.” 

Leaving the compound, the travellers found more 
grass, though dry and withered, and abundance of animal 
life : an iguana a yard long, which McLean killed ; vultures 
in plenty, and flights of scissor-birds. The latter are of 
two different species—“ scissor-tails ” and “ scissor- 
bills ” ; in one the forks of the tail, in the other the 
halves of the beak, working with a cross-cutting motion 
while the birds fly. 

“ Shall we never get away from this hateful flatness ?” 
cried Scarlett petulantly, as he looked round on the 
wearying, imending sameness of the plain. 

The doctor had for some time been looking steadily 
before him, and did not at first appear to notice his com¬ 
panion’s remark. At last he pointed ahead to a faint 
zigzag outline, which might have been clouds, mountains, 
or mirage. Scarlett followed the direction of the hand, 
gazed long and intently, and then cried out: “ The 
Andes 1” They had been so long on the pampas that 
they seemed to have lost all count of time and distance. 

The guide who rode in front half turned. 

“ The Andes are four hundred miles away,” he said. 

J78 


A SWARM OF - BENCHUCHAS 


“ Those hills which you see are the first of the Cor¬ 
dilleras.” 

It was a miserable disappointment, but at least there 
was the consolation of knowing that the monotony was 
soon to be broken. Indeed, it was broken that very 
night—and unpleasantly. In the dusk the guide missed 
the way, and, after hours of wandering, the party had to 
content themselves with the ground and the open air for 
their night’s lodging. Sleep had scarcely come to them 
when they were invaded by a swarm of henchuchas (soft 
wingless insects as big as black-beetles), which crawled 
over the sleepers’ bodies, bloating themselves with their 
blood, and causing an irritation to which a mosquito- 
bite is—only a mosquito-bite. 

So restless was the night that Scarlett and the doctor 
spent the first part of the morning’s journey dozing in 
their saddles, while the guide and servants ambled com¬ 
fortably ahead, doing pretty much the same. 

AU at once Scarlett was awakened by a galloping of 
horses in the rear. 

“ Indians!” he cried, rubbing his eyes, which were 
dazzled by the noonday glare, so that all he could see 
was a great moving mass a couple of stone’s-throws away. 
Fhght would be impossible imless the baggage-horses 
were left behind, and the only chance of safety lay in 
offering a bold front to the enemy, firing a volley into 
them, and wheeling smartly to avoid their charge. 

“ Let them have it!” he shouted, and, levelling his 
pistol at the foremost man, he fired. Simultaneously 
there was a sideward scurry of hoofs towards him; a 
strong hand seized his wrist and jerked it downwards 
179 M 2 


DANGERS OF DESERT-DREAMING 


as the pistol went off, and the bullet buried itself in the 
sand some yards ahead, while Dr. McLean shouted in his 
ear : “ Are you out of your mind V* 

The horsemen had stopped, and, as Scarlett’s eyes 
recovered from the first dazzling blaze of the sun, he saw 
a troop of cavalry facing him, laughing or astonished at his 
method of greeting them; and at their head was the officer 
whose acquaintance he had made some days before. 

“ I must have been asleep !” he gasped. 

“ Ay, and dreaming of Indians,” said the doctor, as 
he hurried towards the officer to explain and apologize. 

And this was the nearest approach to an Indian attack 
which the party met with throughout the journey. 


180 


CHAPTER XIV 

A MAMELUKE ESCORT 

Major Sir Grenville Temple—Tunis—First experiences of Arab 
hospitality—The Tunisian desert—Incidents—Unpopularity 
of the guard—Reasons therefor—The horse-stealer—Arab pets 
—A Tunisian town—Reception accorded to the Mamelukes— 
The fight. 

Travelling for pleasure, at no great distance from 
civilization, and with a strong escort within caU, might 
be supposed to be less productive of peril and adventure 
than undertaking a pioneer expedition, and risking at 
any moment the hostilities of savages. Yet the reverse, 
it is well known, is often the case, as one pleasure- 
tourist—the late Major Sir Grenville Temple—found 
to his cost. 

While on a holiday in the Mediterranean, he went 
ashore at Tunis, and, having obtained a guard of 
mamelukes, or Turkish soldiers, wandered inland in 
company with M. Constant, a French artist. 

His first day’s ride landed him at a small village near 
the River Majerdah, where the mamelukes had told 
him a night’s lodging was to be had. At the approach 
of strangers, the entire population turned out to stare ; 
but on learning that those strangers were a troop of 
181 


ARAB HOSPITALITY 


mamelukes, all—the Sheikh included—fled howling to 
their tents or houses, where they shut themselves in, 
leaving Major Temple to explore their village street 
at his leisure. 

When half an hour had gone by without any other 
sign from the inhabitants than frightened whispers 
from behind doors or temporary barricades, some of 
the mamelukes proceeded to the Sheik’s house, and at 
last succeeded in persuading him to show himself, and 
to listen while they proclaimed the peaceableness and 
honesty of their intentions. Even then the old man 
tremulously and obstinately denied that any accom¬ 
modation whatsoever could be supplied to the travel¬ 
lers, and besought them to go to the next village, where 
he was quite certain that every convenience would be 
at their disposal. “ The next village,” one of the 
escort remembered, was thirty miles away, and rather 
smaller than this one ! 

At last, after threats from the mamelukes and 
offers of rewards from the two Europeans, he gave 
way so far as to promise house-room for the latter, if 
the mamelukes would be willing to bivouac on the 
plain. 

The sleeping apartment assigned to the tourists was 
a large outhouse, which they were obliged to share with 
three camels and two cows. At midnight they waked 
to find themselves wet to the skin. A sudden rain¬ 
storm had risen, and the old and broken roof made little 
or no resistance to the inrush of water. Such was 
Major Temple’s first experience of Arab hospitality, 
and, taken in conjunction with subsequent instances 
182 


THE TUNISIAN DESERT 


even more unpleasant, it served to shake his belief in 
popular ideas on the subject. 

Before many days had elapsed, he made the discovery 
that, though Tunisia was one of the “ granaries ” of 
the Romans, and in spite of the fact that much of its 
soil is richly fertile, the interior tableland is entirely 
dependent on the rainfall for its water, while the 
country to the south and south-west is either sand- 
desert (the Sahara, in fact) or a semi-barren region of 
dried-up salt lakes. 

Each day the dismal sameness and dreariness of the 
way increased, till the holiday trip began to look 
remarkably like punishment duty. In the diary which 
Sir Grenville Temple kept of his journey, he remarks : 

“ In riding over these apparently interminable and 
desert plains, the traveller’s mind experiences a degree 
of restless impatience which he cannot conquer or 
control; for from sunrise to sunset he is in hourly ex¬ 
pectation that, from the next gentle undulation he 
sees in advance, some change in the scenery will break 
in upon the harassing monotony. But no : this and 
other elevations are attained, and still the same suc¬ 
cessions of boundless wastes continue to present them¬ 
selves to the fatigued and aching eye, till, rendered 
almost frantic, the unphilosophic rider dashes his 
pointed stirrups into his wearied horse’s flanks, and 
endeavours by the swiftness of his flight to escape 
from the feelings which overpower him. The heat 
the plodding foot-pace at which these journeys are 
performed, the death-like silence which reigns around, 
and the heavy, drowsy look of men and horses, add 
183 


INCIDENTS 


greatly to the depression of the mind’s buoyancy. 
The sandy and burning deserts themselves never 
affected me in a similar manner, for there you are pre¬ 
pared for what you are to undergo ; here this is not 
the case.” 

But, in relief to the monotony, incidents, grave or 
trivial, were constantly occurring. Once, in climbing 
a sand-ridge, M. Constant’s horse slipped, threw him, 
and then bolted, and a whole afternoon had to be de¬ 
voted to the recapture. On another occasion the 
escort, without any warning, reined up and dis¬ 
mounted, and every man picked up a stone. The 
travellers stopped their horses, and looked round 
wonderingly. There was no enemy in sight, and they 
had given the guards no cause to be mutinously in¬ 
clined ; and, in any case, they were already too well 
armed for battle or mutiny to require such primitive 
weapons. 

The mameluke leader’s next action explained the 
mystery, and set their minds at rest. Crossing over 
to a mound which had hitherto remained unnoticed 
by the Europeans, he added his stone to the existing 
heap, ejaculating piously : “ May those who caused 
your death soon meet theirs !” And all his men 
followed suit. 

The mound was the grave of a murdered man. In 
many parts of North Africa this custom—mentioned 
in the Old Testament—is still preserved, both as in 
the instance given and also in the case of malefactors, 
the prayer then being replaced by a curse. 

Coming to a Bedawin encampment, the travellers 
184 


THE HORSE STEALER 


craved shelter from the afternoon sun. In one tent 
this was refused, in another accorded grudgingly. It 
seemed as though the mere presence of the mamelukes 
was sufficient to inspire either terror or animosity. 
The reason for this unpopularity became apparent 
when, on leaving the camp, Major Temple had the 
greatest difficulty in preventing his escort from carrying 
off any article, small or large, which happened to take 
their fancy. 

A day or two later, as more tents were passed, a very 
fine Arab horse, tethered near one of them, broke 
loose. Two of the guard gave chase, and succeeded 
in capturing him, but evidently had no intention of 
restoring him to his owner ; for one of them, dis¬ 
mounting, began to unharness his own horse, with the 
intention of saddling and riding the new acquisition. 

Temple rode over to the two marauders, and inquired 
what their intentions were. 

“ He is a better one than mine, you see,” remarked 
the thief innocently. 

“ Therefore you steal him ?” 

The man scowled. 

“ Steal ? Is that a word to apply to me 

The position was becoming awkward. Already half 
a dozen armed Arabs had come over from the tents, 
and were standing threateningly by, and these were 
now joined by the owner of the horse—a woman. 

“ Will you let him be stolen 1” she screamed to her 
tribesmen. “You know that my husband is on a 
journey and cannot defend me. And the horse is 
valuable : we gave seven camels in exchange for him.” 

185 


TEMPLE’S INTERVENTION 


Watching his opportunity, the Major suddenly leant 
forward, and, jerking the halter out of the soldier’s 
hand, held it out to the nearest Arab ; and the thief, 
between two stools—or, rather, horses—let go his own 
bridle, so that his horse, with a neigh of satisfaction, 
trotted contentedly away. 

Temple’s action was one of those which, hesitatingly 
or half-heartedly performed, have been known to 
kindle a mutiny. As it was, there were growls of 
dissatisfaction from the escort. The Major, however, 
was not given to irresolution or half-measures. Turning 
sharply on the grumblers, and then addressing the 
officer, he said : 

“ The next man who complains, take away his arms 
and his horse, and let him seek refuge among these 
Arabs.” 

Immediately there was silence—the Bedawin were 
not likely to prove over-hospitable or gentle towards 
a defenceless mameluke—and the order to move 
forward was obeyed with alacrity. 

Unfortunately, the occurrence had no effect in 
giving the men higher views on the subject of honesty, 
and the whole journey was more or less marred by the 
ever-present danger of an attack from villagers or 
Bedawin, through the roguery or insolence of the escort. 

At the next stopping-place the two strangers were 
amazed at being met by a baby camel, whose coat was 
painted a vivid green, and not far from this pheno¬ 
menon were two or three more, decorated with red, 
green, or yellow. 

“ They are being weaned,” explained a soldier. 

186 


ARAB PETS 


“ The Bedawin paint the young ones, so that the 
mothers may not recognise them ; then, when they go 
to suck, the old camels drive them away.” 

In this camp the Arabs were more civilly inclined, 
and one of them willingly offered the two “ Frangi ” 
a night’s lodging in his tent. When the evening meal 
was finished M. Constant suddenly and unaccountably 
sprang up and seized his gun by the barrel, giving 
vent to cries of wonder and alarm. A huge snake was 
wriggling towards the spot where he had been reclining. 

Major Temple caught sight of it, leapt aside, and 
drew his sword. But a daughter of the family ran 
between the snake and his would-be executioners, 
lifted the creature’s head and neck, and, addressing 
it in endearing terms, dragged it across the fioor out 
of harm’s way. The host burst out laughing. 

“ Do not fear ; they will not hurt you,” he said. 
“ Look, here are some more.” And he pointed to 
another reptile that was creeping towards him, while 
a third lazily uncoiled itself in a corner. 

M. Constant slept badly that night, and was heartily 
glad to find himself in the saddle again ; but before 
long he learned that serpents are by no means un¬ 
common pets in Tunisian houses. 

Shortly before the end of the journey a fair-sized 
town was reached, and there it seemed that the retribu¬ 
tion due to the escort’s depredations awaited them. 
No sooner had the cavalcade entered one gate than a 
mob began to hoot and abuse them. With amazing 
rapidity, the news of their arrival spread, so that 
ambushed within each side-street was a knot of lads 
187 


MAMELUKE’S HOSTILE RECEPTION 


and men waiting to salute the strangers with missiles 
of every description; and, before the opposite gate was 
reached, Major Temple and the officer were twice 
obliged to turn and threaten the riff-raff that followed 
on their heels. 

The byways of an Eastern town are mysterious. 
Before the unpopular visitors were through the gate, 
many of those who had been following appeared over 
the gateway, armed with stones, pots, and tiles. 

“ These people are partial to this sort of amusement,” 
said the mameluke leader, when they were outside the 
wall. “ Every year, when the Bey’s troops leave the 
town, the rear of the column or the stragglers are 
attacked, and often killed or-” 

The speech was interrupted by a shower of stones. 
Half a dozen of the soldiers were badly injured, and, 
as Temple again turned on the crowd, a jagged stone 
struck his horse in the shoulder, laming and practically 
ruining it. He dismounted, and, calling out to the 
officer, “ Send one volley over their heads !” busied 
himself with the wounded animal. 

The order to fire was obeyed ; but, by accident or 
intention, one bullet fiew among the crowd over the 
gate, and a man fell dead. 

“ Vengeance !” yelled the mob, and surged through 
the gateway in hundreds, so that Temple, who was 
now trying to transfer his saddle to a spare horse, 
began to despair of saving his own life. The leader 
had drawn the escort.some yards off, so that the Major, 
isolated and on foot, was soon surrounded. It was 
probable that the guard would fire wildly on his 
188 




One of the Disadvantages of a Mameluke Escort 

Major Temple travelled in Tunisia with an escort of Mamelukes. These men were such 
thieves that the Bedawin constantly threatened retaliation. In one town the trouble 
became so serious that Major Temple nearly lost his life, but succeeded in lighting his way 
through. 


















THE FIGHT 

assailants, and he stood as good a chance of being shot 
as they. 

There was but one course to pursue. He fired a 
pistol into the crowd between him and the gate, 
turned round, mounted the spare horse bare-backed, 
and put him at the gallop, trampling down some of his 
assailants, and where the mob was thicker drew his 
sword and struck right and left with the flat of it. 

The Arabs were not inclined to face a determined 
resistance ; they rapidly fell back, and contented them¬ 
selves with sulkily hurling a stone or two after the 
retreating cavalier. 

Seeing the Englishman safe, the officer ordered 
another volley. The enemy gave back ; several fell 
dead or wounded, and the wiser among them began to 
shout in warning to the more zealous, as they remem¬ 
bered that, in the long-run, stones or a few old-fashioned 
guns are poor weapons wherewith to repel a trained 
troop, who were capable of burning their town about 
their ears. And, by the time the mamelukes had re¬ 
loaded, the last stone had been thrown and the last 
thrower was safe within the gateway, and the travellers 
were free to ride on without fear of further molestation. 


189 


CHAPTER XV 

IN THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DESERT 

Thirst!—Dew - gathering—Digging for water and life, with the 
thermometer at 130° F. in the shade—Caprices of Australian 
temperature—The overseer’s fruitless mission—His notions of 
husbanding supplies—Hunger and horse-beef—The sting-ray 
—The guides disappear, but return hungry—A night alarm— 
Treachery, murder, and desertion—Alone in the desert!— 
Eyre’s narrow escape—Pursued by the mutineers—Horse- 
beef diet again—Wylie’s notions of a square meal—^Making for 
the coast—A sail! 

Nearly half of the journey from Adelaide to King 
George’s Sound was completed. 

For over five hundred miles Edward Eyre, accom¬ 
panied by three native lads and their European over¬ 
seer, had traversed the pathless waste that lies along 
the southern coast of Australia—a bare sandy region, 
lifeless but for here and there a patch of grass, scrub, 
or eucalyptus. 

And now every hour was bringing them nearer to 
the traveller’s deadliest foe—the want of water. 

Day by day progress became more difficult, more 
cheerless—the monotony only broken by the childish 
amusements of the native boys, who seemed unaware 
of the approaching danger, or by the complaints and 

190 


THIRST! 


lamentations of the overseer, who implored Eyre to go 
no further. Such complaints were by no means ground¬ 
less, for every step seemed to be taking them farther 
from civilization, from hope, and from the likelihood 
of finding anything drinkable. 

One scorching day succeeded another, grimly 
checked off by the steady diminution of the water- 
supply. On the day on which they were reduced to the 
last gallon it was found that the baggage-horses were 
no longer equal to the task of carrying the remaining 
provisions, and Eyre saw that he would be forced to 
leave behind whatever was not required for immediate 
use. Accordingly, he buried the whole of the supplies, 
except the remaining drop of water, a little flour, tea, 
and sugar, and a few guns and tools, intending to 
send back for them as soon as water was found. 

On the morning following, the travellers recom¬ 
menced their journey almost breakfastless, for they 
dared not use the water for making bread or tea. 
Before dark they had covered another thirteen miles, 
and by that time the last drop of water was consumed. 

^yre rose at daybreak to examine his surroundings. 
He found that they had halted almost on the very spot 
which a party of wandering natives had recently chosen 
for their camp. And here was further cause for alarm, 
for among other odds and ends left behind by the 
savages were one or two utensils made of bark, which 
Eyre recognised as cups used for collecting dew from 
the grass and scrub. Evidently it would be useless 
to expect to find water here. 

He was returning dejectedly to the camp when behind 
191 


DEW-GATHERING 


some low sand-hills he discovered something else that 
had not been noticed on the previous evening: a 
small patch of grass—coarse and harsh, certainly, yet 
fodder which his half-famished horses and sheep 
would not despise. 

His first thought was of the rich crystal beads of 
dew which spangled the grass, and which, carefully 
gathered, meant probably a day’s supply of drink for 
the whole party. 

In a few strides he was back at the camp, rousing his 
tired companions. 

There was no time to be lost; in an hour or so the 
sun would have left the grass almost as dry as the 
sand upon which it grew. Eyre took a sponge and 
began to wipe the moisture from each blade, squeezing 
the water thus collected into a can. The negro lads 
more deliberately followed his example, using a handful 
of grass as a sponge, after the native manner. 

The result of their joint labours, at the end of an 
hour, was about half a gallon of water. Tea was 
made, and soon E3n*e gave orders to resume the march. 

By the afternoon they had travelled another ten 
miles. But now the heat of the sun seemed to paralyze 
their movements. All the drink had been consumed 
hours ago, and the torture of thirst was upon everyone. 
The overseer grumbled, the natives whimpered and 
moaned, while the dumb agony in the eyes of the 
horses and the two remaining sheep cut the young 
explorer to the heart. 

A halt was made, and Eyre lay down to rest—and 
to think. 


192 


DIGGING FOR WATER AND LIFE 


Visions of death from thirst, with all its horrors, as 
recounted by other explorers, rose before him : the 
lolling, swelling tongue, the burning throat, and the 
inevitable despair and madness, from which death 
would be a blessed relief. Perhaps he read in his com¬ 
panion’s querulous, terrified faces the passionate outcry 
of an earlier band of wanderers to their leader : “ Why 
have ye brought us into this wilderness that we and 
our cattle should die ?” 

He sprang to his feet and seized a shovel. He must 
find water ! 

“ Now, boys, dig! Dig for water; dig for your lives!” 

The stronger personality put heart into the weaker ; 
the others took pick or shovel, and set to work with all 
their remaining strength. 

A foot—two feet—and nothing but sand; and, at each 
shovelful, limbs grew wearier, heads heavier and more 
giddy. And the shade temperature was 130° F. ! 

All of a sudden one of the blacks uttered a cry of joy. 
The earth and stones on his spade were damp ; moist! 
But Eyre shook his head mournfully, and indicated 
that they were too near the sea-beach to expect to 
find fresh water at a depth of two or three feet. 

A foot deeper. Now the shingle gave place to clay, 
so damp that tiny streams of moisture eddied into the 
spade-tracks. Cheering on his half-fainting men, Eyre 
sunk his portion of the hole to about five feet; then, 
desperate with fatigue, he stooped, and, taking in his 
hand a few drops of the rapidly oozing water, tasted 
it; for there was just the faint hope that it might not 
be salt. 


193 


N 


AUSTRALIAN TEMPERATURE 


With a smothered cry of surprise that attracted the 
attention of the others, he stooped again, tasted again. 
The overseer and the negroes followed his example. 

Then, breathless and speechless, the men looked at 
each other. Not a trace of salt was perceptible ! 

But they had hoped too long, suffered too much, to 
be able to credit their own senses ; and again the two 
white men dug fiercely, then paused to once more 
taste the fast-increasing fruit of their toil. 

This time there could be no doubt; the water was 
perfectly fresh and cool, and a few minutes’ more 
digging showed that at less than six feet from the 
surface they had landed on an almost inexhaustible 
spring. 

But Eyre’s difficulties were not such as could be 
swept away by the mere finding of water. Since 
burying the bulk of the stores he had travelled fifty 
miles; the small portion of supplies retained was 
quickly diminishing, and a journey of two or three 
days lay between the wanderers and their food, 
ammunition, etc. And even the bulk, if recovered, 
would not last more than three weeks. One of the 
sheep had now to be killed, and the other, appar¬ 
ently rendered refractory by solitude, required careful 
watching to prevent his escaping. 

An added trouble lay in the variation of temperature. 
While, in the daytime, their camp was subjected to 
well-nigh tropical heat, the nights were bitterly cold, 
and not merely by contrast with the heat of the day ; 
for often the adventurers awoke to find the ground 
covered with frost, and themselves chilled to the bone. 

194 


THE OVERSEER’S MISSION 


A large or permanent fire was an impossibility ; it was 
hard labour to collect even sufficient material for a fire 
for cooking. 

Five people could not live for ever on one sheep, 
and Eyre saw that, unless provisions were soon obtained, 
they would only have escaped the pangs of thirst to 
fall into the clutches of hunger. He succeeded in 
shooting a wallaby, by means of which the mutton 
might be eked out and varied ; and, now that they had 
had a few days’ rest, he despatched the overseer and 
one native—with three horses, carrying a liberal 
quantity of water—in search of the buried stores. 

After their departure he moved the camp five miles 
forward, where he found a fair growth of gum-scrub, 
which would at least insure plenty of fuel. 

In another couple of days the meat-supply gave out; 
the only things shootable seemed to be a few wandering 
pigeons, and Eyre feared to spend his already scanty 
ammunition on them. The tea was used up ; it was 
scarcely possible to allow himself and the two native 
lads so much as a daily ration of half a pound of flour 
each, and he hesitated to kill the sheep until the over¬ 
seer’s return. The blacks, however, showed him that 
the young roots of the gum-scrub (eucalyptus) could 
be made to do duty for flour by stripping off the bark, 
laying them in the hot ashes, and then pounding them 
between two stones. 

At last, after six days of waiting, the watchers saw 
in the distance one horse slowly and painfully driven 
along by two men. Trying to take comfort from the 
fact that the overseer and his companion had at least 
195 N 2 


THE STING RAY 


not perished by the way, Eyre hastened forward to 
greet them. He was met by a dismal story. The 
baggage had been easily found, and the horses laden 
with it. But, after having journeyed a bare thirteen 
miles, one horse fell down exhausted, and had to be 
left behind. His burden was divided between the 
other two, and thus they fared on for a few miles 
farther. Then the second horse, and .practically all 
the baggage, had to be abandoned, and the two men 
had made the remaining journey of thirty-eight miles 
on foot, driving the third horse ahead of them, and 
bringing only a little flour and ammunition. 

E 3 nre took his disappointment as cheerily as he 
might, and the next day started on foot with one of the 
natives to recover what he could of the abandoned 
loads. Arrived at the place to which the overseer had 
directed them, he made up two small bundles of neces¬ 
saries, and once more set out for the camp ; and on the 
next night reached it in safety, having walked seventy- 
six miles in three and a half days. Here a fresh cause 
for annoyance and anxiety awaited him. He had 
instructed the overseer to make up a few loaves in his 
absence ; he now found that that wise individual had 
used the whole of the flour, and the bread was already 
becoming unbearably stale. E 3 n’e presently sent him 
to reconnoitre the country ahead, while he and the 
natives went down to the seashore in quest of anything 
eatable. They brought back a few sting-ray fish, 
which proved to be neither toothsome nor satisfying. 
The overseer was awaiting them with a report which 
was the reverse of encouraging. He stated that 
196 


A HORSE SLAUGHTERED 


nothing but bare desert lay before them, and that they 
would probably search in vain for water; for, in the 
few places where he had dug, after sinking about a 
foot, he had come upon impenetrable rock. Again he 
implored his leader to abandon the expedition. It was 
another six hundred and fifty miles to King George’s 
Sound, he urged ; perhaps there was nothing but desert 
the whole way. If this were the case, they had only 
starvation to look forward to ; and if, on the other 
hand, they chanced on inhabited country, it was more 
than probable that they would fall into the hands of 
hostile natives. 

E3n:e listened with patience and sympathy, but, at 
the end of his lieutenant’s doleful harangue, quietly 
signified his determination to press on to the journey’s 
end. And he turned away, casting hungry eyes on 
the solitary sheep. 

Next day they moved forward, already conscious of 
the grip of hunger and disease ; for not only did the 
sting-ray fish fail to satisfy or strengthen, but, after 
a few more meals of it, they found that it made them 
all violently ill. Eyre’s thoughts again ran on mutton ; 
so did those of his companions. But the sheep was 
still to be spared a little longer, for, as one of the horses 
was giving unmistakable signs of inability to go 
further, the overseer provided for a change of menu 
by slaughtering him for food. 

The smell of the roasting meat, and the wolf-like 
delight on the faces of the blacks at the prospect of a 
return to animal food, nauseated the young explorer, 
and, while the others glutted themselves on the flesh 
197 


ILLNESS AND MELANCHOLY 


of their late companion in misfortune, he was fain to 
return to the unwholesome fish. But, the day after, 
he was again seized with such paroxysms of pain that 
he feared to venture again on the sting-ray, and, 
after a great effort, at last persuaded himself to par¬ 
take of roast horse, which he afterwards admitted— 
almost shamefacedly—he enjoyed. He ordered that 
the carcass should be cut into small joints, salted, and 
hung in the sun to dry; but, while hanging, it attracted 
the notice of a large colony of flies, and this necessitated 
the placing of one of the natives to act as “ scare-fiy ” 
—a measure which hardly promised well for future 
enjoyment of the meat. 

Despite the boy’s energies, after a day and a night’s 
hanging, most of the meat was fly-blown and semi- 
putrid. It was decided to boil such as was worth 
keeping. 

Again dysentery attacked the two white men, and 
with it an accompanying fit of melancholy and lowness 
of spirits. Eyre, in truth, had ample room for thought 
and moodiness. The overseer’s murmurings had been 
heard and understood by the natives, who had for 
some time been growing discontented and restive, and 
were by no means reassured by his disquieting report. 
Matters were brought to a head through Eyre’s dis¬ 
covering that the lads had profited by the darkness 
to steal a four-pound joint of horse-flesh. He promptly 
punished them by reducing their meat allowance. 

Already the excess of meat food, after long abstention, 
had demoralized the boys, making them even more 
averse to work than is the natural wont of the black 
198 


TWO LADS DISAPPEAR 


man. They became insolent and disobedient, of course 
denying all knowledge of the theft. For the next two 
days the two elder lads occupied themselves with the 
preparation of native weapons, and then suddenly 
disappeared. 

With a heavy heart Eyre resumed the journey, 
leaving behind the now uneatable horse-beef, and, in 
desperation, killing the sheep which he had almost 
come to regard as a friend. And again the march 
became more arduous, carrying the travellers over low, 
rocky hills, which were rendered so unbearably hot 
by the midday sun that two or three miles became a 
day’s journey. Less than a week after deserting, 
the two lads rejoined their leader, almost dead with 
fatigue and hunger. One sulkily, the other penitently, 
admitted having stolen the meat, and were forgiven. 
Eyre fed them, and then listened to the narration of 
their adventures. During the first two days they had 
killed a couple of bandicoots, and, after that, nothing ; 
they had found no water but a few drops in the hollow 
of a cliff left by a recent storm. 

Still regardless of the protests or pleadings of the 
overseer and the blacks, Eyre continued the journey, 
marching till six o’clock in the evening. 

It was his custom to divide the night into two 
watches—one from 6 p.m. till 11 p.m., the other 
from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. On this particular night, 
the overseer being more than ordinarily tired, Eyre 
decided to take the first watch—a proceeding which, 
as events will show, saved his life. The arms 
and provisions were, as usual, piled up under an 
199 


A NIGHT ALARM 

oilskin, and the men lay down to sleep on their 
rugs. 

The horses, being only loosely hobbled, in the course 
of the evening wandered some distance away, making 
it necessary for Eyre to follow them for about half a 
mile or so. He had succeeded in getting the animals 
together, and was about to return, as it only wanted 
half an hour to the end of his watch, when the stillness 
was broken by the report of a gun. Eyre at once 
assumed that the overseer had concluded that he had 
lost his way in his search for the horses, and had fired 
as a signal. He called out encouragingly, but received 
no reply. A vague uneasiness began to steal over him ; 
he hastened in the direction whence the sound of the 
shot had come, and had almost reached the camp 
when the eldest of the blacks came running towards 
him, apparently beside himself with terror. 

“ Oh, massa! oh, massa ! come here,” he wailed ; 
and led the way back to camp. 

Brave man as he was, the explorer’s heart stood still 
at the sight that greeted him. By the light of a torch 
he saw that stores had been plundered, bags and tins 
torn open, and their contents stolen or scattered ; the 
other two natives were nowhere to be seen, and the 
overseer lay on the ground bleeding to death. The 
poor fellow had been shot through the breast. 

With an agonized sob, the young man threw himself 
on his knees, scarcely able to utter the questions that 
rushed to his lips. But the dying man could do no 
more than turn his eyes mournfully for a moment on 
the master he had served so long ; there came another 
200 


ALONE IN THE DESERT 


gush of blood, then the death-rattle, and Edward 
Eyre knew that, but for a native who was not to be 
trusted, he was alone in the desert. 

He turned away from the corpse to try and discover 
what might be his chances of preserving his own life. 
Wylie (the remaining native), still intoxicated with 
fear, could only whine and jabber incoherently. Eyre’s 
first thought was of the stores. If, as was all too 
evident, the two missing boys were the culprits, they 
were capable of having taken every morsel of food and 
drop of drink. A short search partly confirmed his 
fears ; his own double-barrelled gun and that of the 
overseer had disappeared, and with them all the bread 
and meat, a gallon of water, and most of the tea and 
sugar. His rifle was out of order, a bullet having 
wedged itself immovably in the barrel some days before, 
and he had only his pistols to rely upon. The sight of 
the reckless plundering and of the still bleeding corpse 
was too much for his overwrought nerves, and, calling 
to Wylie to follow him, he wandered away into the dark¬ 
ness. Clad only in shirt and trousers, he walked about 
aimlessly, praying for the end of a night that seemed 
interminable; almost wishing that the overseer’s fate 
had been his own. 

Dawn crept slowly on, but it was not till broad day¬ 
light that he could muster up courage to go back. 
Setting Wylie to make a Are, he took an inventory of 
the stores left; they consisted of forty pounds of flour, 
a little tea and sugar, and about four gallons of water. 
Being almost defenceless, he now set about getting his 
rifle into working order, and in doing so came within 
201 


EYRE’S NARROW ESCAPE 


an ace of losing his life. Unscrewing the barrel, he held 
it in the fire with a view to melting the obstructing 
bullet, when suddenly the heat exploded the powder 
which, having been wet, had stuck and caked in the 
barrel, sending the bullet through his hair. 

It was now eight o’clock, and there was only one 
thing to prevent their immediate departure—the task 
of disposing of their dead comrade. For miles round, 
the ground was solid rock, covered here and there by a 
few inches of sand. There was only the alternative of 
leaving the body sewn in its blanket. This was done, 
and then E 3 rre turned his back on the scene of his 
troubles, sending Wylie, the sight of whom still revolted 
him, ahead with one of the horses, while he followed 
with the others. In this manner they walked ten miles, 
and at last stopped for food and rest. Eyre could now, 
for the first time, bring himself to question Wylie 
about the murder, but that youth tremblingly denied 
all knowledge of the affair, insisted that he had been 
awakened by the sound of the shot, and had immedi¬ 
ately run in search of his master. But the master took 
the liberty of doubting this statement, and, by further 
questioning, elicited the information that one of the 
other lads had frequently urged the advisability of 
seizing arms and ammunition and deserting. Eyre’s 
own impression was that Wylie had been in the plot 
from the beginning, but that the sight of the dying 
man had so terrorized him as to leave him powerless 
to join in the flight of his confederates. Indeed, he 
was still so frightened that he could scarcely speak, 
unless to repeat his protestations of innocence. 

202 


PURSUED BY THE MUTINEERS 


In the afternoon, as they were about to start on 
their road, Eyre caught sight of the two boys steadily 
bearing down upon them. At first he affected to ignore 
them, and gave orders to Wylie to move on. He was 
sufficiently well armed not to fear them in daylight, 
but there was the danger of their following him up and 
attacking suddenly in the dark. 

He looked back, and saw that they were gaining on 
him. It was certain that sooner or later they would 
attack ; they must do that or famish, for he had the 
greater share of the water, and their enormous appetites 
and improvident habits would, within a few hours, 
leave them without food or drink. 

There was only one means by which he could escape ; 
he must either slay or be slain—an uncomfortable 
reflection for one who had never taken human life. 
Turning suddenly, he hastened towards the natives, 
who, astonished and alarmed, began to retreat, walking 
backwards. Eyre had left his rifle with the baggage 
in charge of Wylie, and could not hope to reach them 
at long range with a pistol. He tried parley, but the 
lads either did not or would not hear, but continued 
their retreat, replying only to his shouts with the 
monotonous duet, “ Oh, massa, we don’t want you ; 
we want Wylie !” a circumstance which strengthened 
his former suspicion that that guileless youth was as 
much to blame as they, and that they now expected him 
to join them. 

Dusk was coming on ; he abandoned the pursuit, 
and rejoined his companion, determined to profit by 
the approaching night to get clear of his enemies. He 
203 


HORSE-BEEF DIET AGAIN 


hastened forward, driving Wylie and the horses ahead, 
disregarding the boys, who followed at a respectful 
distance, still crying out to their comrade till darkness 
cut them off from sight of each other. 

Spurred by anxiety, regardless of fatigue, Eyre 
pressed steadily on, not calling a halt till they had 
travelled a good eighteen miles. Now, unhappily, 
there was no one with whom to share the night-watch, 
so he hobbled the horses more tightly, and lay down to 
sleep, with the cheerful prospect of being attacked or 
robbed or murdered before daybreak. But that night 
and the next few days passed uneventfully ; no further 
trace of the murderers was discovered, and, but for the 
want of more sustaining food and the appalling loneli¬ 
ness of the desert, the journey was continued for some 
time with comparative ease. 

Nevertheless a gloomy melancholy, of which he could 
not rid himself, had settled upon the mind of the 
young traveller, rendering him an easy prey to disease. 
He bitterly reproached himself for not having listened 
to the overseer’s prayers, and, now that his first fit of 
anger against the two boys had subsided, he was 
disposed to charge himself with their death—for dead 
they assuredly must be by this time, helpless and alone 
in the desert. To make matters worse, his right hand 
had become crippled owing to a swelling of the knuckles, 
which disabled him from shooting, and the pain of 
which prevented his sleeping. 

For food, Wylie essayed to shoot first some pigeons, 
then an eagle, each time, however, missing his aim. 
There was nothing for it but to kill another horse; and 
204 


MAKING FOR THE COAST 


now, with only one man to watch and provide for, 
Eyre had an opportunity of gauging the powers and 
capacities of the native appetite. Wylie, not content 
with eating lumps of half-raw meat while the cooking 
was in operation, set aside about twenty pounds for 
his private consumption during the night. Before he 
had been long asleep Eyre was aroused by his dusky 
companion’s groans. The lad volunteered the informa¬ 
tion that he was in pain because his master made him 
work too hard ! The night passed away, punctuated 
by Wylie’s moans, and, when daylight appeared, Eyre 
was electrified to find the abstemious young man still 
gnawing a shank-bone. 

For the next three days Eyre was too ill to proceed ; 
Wylie also complained of a slight indisposition. When 
they were again able to start, the explorer was forced to 
recognise the impossibility of travelling several miles 
farther in his condition of health, and with the larder 
empty—for a wild dog had relieved them of the greater 
part of the remaining horse-beef. 

The only chance of salvation lay in making for the 
shore, and there watching for an opportunity of attract¬ 
ing the notice of a passing vessel. The way to the 
beach led them through a slightly more fertile country, 
and the native was fortunate enough to kill one or 
two kangaroos. 

Early one morning, to their delight, they saw, not 
far distant, two small sailing-boats. Eyre threw him¬ 
self on the shingle, panting with excitement at the 
thought of again touching the hand of a civilized man, 
while Wylie sought, by fighting a fire and by shooting, 
205 


A SAIL! 


to attract attention. But the boats passed slowly 
westward, their occupants obviously unaware of the 
signalling. 

Disappointment and despair were driving away 
hope, when suddenly the boats lowered sail, as though 
about to fish. Again the two men signalled madly, but 
to no purpose. All at once, Eyre caught sight of a 
small object standing above the cliff at a bend in the 
coast, some six miles to the west. It was the topsail 
of a ship, apparently at anchor close in to the shore. 
Springing on to the nearest horse, he rode furiously in 
that direction, dreading at any moment to see the ship 
sail off again. He pulled up opposite to her, and had 
little difficulty in making his presence known to those 
on board. A boat was lowered, and soon he, Wylie, 
and the horses were at an end of their troubles. 

The vessel was a French whaler, and the commander. 
Captain Rossiter (after whom Eyre christened the bay 
where she had anchored), hospitably welcomed the 
explorer, who, thus saved from a horrible death in the 
wilderness, was destined for a long and useful career 
which was to extend to our own day. 


206 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE AFRICAN LION-HUNTER 

The Kalahari Desert—Roualeyn Gordon Gumming, “ the African 
lion-hunter ”—The Boers, hospitable and otherwise—Gemsbok- 
shooting — Hottentot industry — Lost — The great thirst— 
Dreams—A mirage—The lost Kafl&r found—RebelHon and 
desertion—Fight with a lion—Locusts—On the Kalahari— 
Chased by a rhinoceros—Another mutiny—Steering by the 
stars—Birds as water-finders—How Gumming shot his fiftieth 
elephant—Battle with a boa-constrictor. 

The reader has already been reminded that, by in¬ 
crease of population and colonization, together with 
the spread of railways and artificial water-courses, 
many of the great deserts of the world will in years to 
come have ceased to merit that title. This statement, 
it is to be feared, however, scarcely applies to the 
Kalahari, which occupies nine thousand square miles 
of the central space between the Transvaal and 
Orange River Colonies on the east, and German South- 
West Africa on the west. For, though the desert 
itself is more than three thousand feet above the sea- 
level, high mountain ranges surround it on all sides 
which intercept the clouds, so that rain seldom falls, 
and thus the desert, so far from being reclaimed, is 
207 


THE KALAHARI DESERT 


likely to increase in area; for, in the past fifty years, 
many of its springs have dried up, and bordering dis¬ 
tricts have become barren, owing, doubtless, to the 
want of surrounding forest land. 

It is not surprising, then, that the occupants of the 
Kalahari are mainly wild beasts—whose instinct may 
be relied upon to guide them where water is—and 
negroes (Bakalahari, or desert-folk), whose business it 
is to obtain skins, tusks, and ostrich-feathers for the 
people of Bechuanaland. 

The first of our countrymen to venture in this in¬ 
hospitable country was the late Roualeyn Gordon 
Gumming, whose exploits earned for him in England 
the sobriquet of “ the African lion-hunter.” 

His object in spending five years in South Africa 
was frankly that of gratifying a passion for sport, but 
he succeeded incidentally in adding somewhat to the 
general knowledge concerning the fauna and con¬ 
figuration of the country. After having served suc¬ 
cessively in the Indian and Canadian armies and the 
Cape^Mounted Rifles, he had given up his commission, 
and at the age of twenty-three set off up-country in 
search of adventure. 

From Colesberg he followed a fine almost parallel 
to the north-western course of the Orange River, 
bearing across the Karroo towards Griqualand. Before 
long he found reason to doubt the wisdom of his 
choice of servants, for two of them, a Hottentot and a 
Kaffir, did not understand the meaning of obedience, 
temperance, or work, and seized all opportunities of 
making free with the contents of the stores-waggon. 

208 


THE BOERS 


The third, a young Bosjemann, remained faithful and 
indifferent honest throughout, and subsequently re¬ 
turned to England with his master. 

After driving—or “ trekking ”—twenty-five miles 
they came to a Boer farm, and, as Gumming wished to 
buy two more horses, he alighted and sought out the 
farmer. The man was in a drunken sleep, and, on being 
awakened, received his visitor with characteristic Boer 
courtesy ; that is to say, he cursed the visitor for a 
wandering and trespassing “ Engelsch,” and ended 
with threats of violent expulsion from his farmstead. 
Now, as the interloper was about twice the size of the 
irate Dutchman, this seemed a waste of eloquence, and 
Gumming hinted as much; then, thanking him for his 
poHteness, left him. 

But further on was another farm, where the Boers 
received him kindly, and offered him coffee and 
tobacco; asked after his family, inquired as to his 
destination—and reason for going there ; his age, place 
of birth, occupation, income, politics, religion, and a 
few other things which the traveller had been in the 
habit of regarding as purely his own concerns; and 
finally sold him two horses. 

The karroo, or sand-plain, abounded in gemsbok— 
large antelopes with long, backward-sweeping horns; 
but, as they chose the more broken ground which 
wheels could not pass over, Gumming grew tired of 
watching game that persisted in keeping out of range, 
and at last left the care of the two waggons to his only 
trustworthy man, and, taking the other two with him,; 
rode in chase of the herds. 


209 


0 


GEMSBOK-SHOOTING 


The animals proved'even more shy and wild than 
the hunter had bargained for, and it was only after a 
ride which lasted till sunset that an opportunity of 
getting a shot at them occurred. Then, after a while, 
a young and very fine gemsbok began to lag, and, at 
the end of much patient stalking, fell to the English¬ 
man’s gun. 

As it was now so late, and his own horse was much 
spent. Gumming told the Kaffir to ride back and take 
word for the waggons to follow at dawn, as nearly as 
the way would allow, and to return with water and 
bread. Then he and Jacob, the Hottentot, set about 
skinning and quartering the game. 

By the time their work was finished the karroo was 
in darkness, for the Hottentot’s methods of work are 
unlike any other—save those of the Kaffir, which are 
strikingly similar. They consist in first remarking 
briskly, “ Laat ons een plan maken, baas,” which is 
Dutch, and signifies, “ Let’s make a plan, sir; ” and 
then placidly looking on (maturing the “ plan,” may¬ 
hap) while the white man performs the task himself. 

When a fire of karroo-bushes had been made, the 
workers sat down, roasted some of the meat, and, as 
Cobus, the Kaffir, still did not arrive, began supper, 
Gumming making as satisfactory a meal as it is possible 
to make on hot meat, without salt, bread, or vegetables, 
and with the tongue and throat in a baked condition 
for want of drink. At ten o’clock the black had still 
not appeared, and, as the watchers were now faint and 
dizzy from thirst, they rode in different directions in 
search of the missing man. Gumming must have gone 
210 


THE GREAT THIRST 


several miles, but could get no answer to his shouts; and, 
as each shout but added to the dryness of his throat, he 
turned his now exhausted horse, dismounted, and led 
him back to the temporary camp, hoping against hope 
that he would find Cobus there. As he drew near the 
fire he could distinctly hear someone talking, and he 
hastened joyfully up, to find that the voice was that 
of Jacob, who lay writhing and wailing in the torments 
of thirst. Like his master, he had given up the search, 
and returned in expectation of seeing the Kaffir at the 
fireside. 

“ Oh, baas, I shall die—I shall die!” he moaned 
piteously. 

“ Eventually, without doubt,” said his master cheer¬ 
fully. “ Try going to sleep first; ” and, with the 
philosophy that African travel begets, the young 
sportsman extemporized a spring-mattress with the 
aid of the bok-skin and a long, low bush, and lay down 
for his night’s rest. 

But the philosophy that can charm away a raging 
thirst still remains one of the hidden things; and, 
after an hour’s restless tossing, Gumming required all 
his self-restraint to keep him from joining in the 
Hottentot’s lamentations. When sleep came it was but 
fitful, lasting only a few moments at a time, and being 
perilously like delirium; for the pangs of thirst were 
increased by feverish imagination, and the tortured 
man returned again and again to the miserable con¬ 
sciousness that only a few minutes of the hideous night 
had elapsed since he first dozed. 

Yielding anew to fatigue, he fell asleep once more, 
211 0 2 


DREAMS 


this time for a longer spell; and dreamt that, with a 
great clatter of horses, half the Kaffirs in the country 
were bringing him water, whereof he drank greedily, 
but without assuaging his thirst. “ More ! give me 
more !” he cried; then woke at the sound of his own 
voice to the knowledge that if the water was fictitious 
the trampling was not, for across the plain he could 
hear a horse galloping. He sat up and assured himself 
that he was not dreaming. The noise of the hoofs 
came nearer, then ceased, then sounded again, but this 
time with growing faintness. 

Gumming stood up and shouted like a madman, but 
the thud-thud of feet continued to lessen, and at last 
died away, and the only result of his hail was the 
rousing of Jacob to the repetition of his doleful wail: 
“ Oh, baas, I shall die ! Water!” and the startling of 
his own horse into a neigh of alarm. The hunter called 
reassuringly to the poor animal, and, in turning his 
head in its direction, discovered the meaning of the 
sounds. Jacob’s horse had been carelessly tethered, 
and, breaking loose, had run away to seek for water. 

Happily, as reckoned by the clock, the night was not 
a long one, and when Gumming awoke, after a more 
prolonged semi-delirium, it was to find the sun risen 
and already powerful. The sight banished half the 
horror of the past few hours, and he stood up and 
called cheerily to the Hottentot, who made no reply. 
Poor fellow! he was lying on his face sobbing Hke a 
child. 

Alone and on foot the sportsman started in the 
direction from which the waggons should come, but 
212 


A MIRAGE 


in a short time felt his former agonies returning, aug¬ 
mented by the heat of the sun. If he did not soon 
find water he felt that he would lose his reason. 

All of a sudden he noticed a small herd of gemsbok 
in front, and near it a water-pit; but something unusual 
in the position of them both made him look again, and 
he knew that he was the dupe of a mirage. Although 
this was his first experience of that diabolical trick of 
the desert, he learned before he reached the Kalahari 
that “ when the sun is powerful, which is during the 
greater part of the year, an enduring mirage dances 
on the plain wherever the hunter turns his bewildered 
eyes. This mirage restricts the range of vision to a 
very moderate distance. The effect produced by the 
optical illusion is wonderful : hills and herds of game 
often appear as if suspended in mid-air. Dry and sun¬ 
baked vleys, or pans covered with a crystallized 
efflorescence, constantly delude the thirsty traveller 
with the prospect of water ; and more than once I have 
ridden towards a couple of springboks magnified a 
hundredfold, which I had mistaken for the white tilts 
of my waggons.” 

But, while he was still lost in chagrined astonishment 
at this lusus naturoB, he beheld a horseman slowly 
approaching. It was Cobus, a full water-sack and a 
bundle of mealie-cakes on his saddle, and an ex¬ 
pression of utter bewilderment on his brow. After 
doing his master’s errand he had somehow lost his way, 
and had passed the night in looking for the watch-fire, 
and muttering charms against lions or other evil things 
that might assault or hurt his unlovely body. After a 
213 


REBELLION AND DESERTION 


long draught of water Gumming sent him on to the 
relief of the Hottentot, and continued his walk, 
munching mealie-cakes and looking out for the waggons, 
which soon came in sight, the Bosjemann leading one 
team, and the other—the fugitive horse among them— 
following obediently. 

After a few more days’ trekking, the Orange River 
was reached, and, in order to avoid too much mountain 
climbing, the travellers swerved, following the north¬ 
eastern feeder as far as the Vaal River ; then bore due 
north for Bechuanaland and the Kalahari. On the 
fringe of the great desert Cumming’s patience with his 
two worthless henchmen evaporated, for they grew 
insubordinate — “flown with insolence and” stolen 
whisky ; and he began to reckon with them, aided by 
a sjambok, which is a strip of rhinoceros-hide, of 
great persuasive powers with cattle and refractory 
followers. In this case it had the effect of causing 
both men to desert. By good luck the explorer came 
across three Cape “ boys ” who had wandered up- 
country, and were willing to eat his food and neglect 
his work, for a consideration. 

Approaching the Bechuana territory, as Gumming 
dozed in his waggon, the negro who was leading the 
team roused him by taking a flying leap into the 
waggon, to his own accompaniment of wild and un¬ 
earthly screams. The Scotsman remonstrated, but 
immediately after excused the sudden intrusion, for a 
magniflcent lion was standing in the path licking his 
lips, erecting his mane, and lashing himself with his 
tail, obviously having sinister designs on the team. 

214 



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FiGHT WITH A LION 

At the Cape boy’s continued screams he moved to¬ 
wards the waggon, first at a lazy if determined crawl, 
then at the trot; and, before the “ African lion-hunter ” 
could take aim at him, sprang with a fearful yell at one 
of the leaders. 

Just as Mr. Squeers had never thrashed a boy in a 
cab until chance threw him and his victim into the same 
vehicle, so Mr. Gumming, though he had shot many 
lions under various circumstances, had never fired at 
one from the footboard of his waggon, at the risk of 
hitting one of his own wheelers, which shied and 
kicked and screamed behind the hapless leader. He 
drew trigger at hazard, and the savage beast, wounded 
in the neck, fell to the ground on the horse’s ofi-side ; 
but, instantly recovering himself, couched, and with 
a rumbling growl that rose to a snarl, and then to an 
appalling roar, leapt for the waggon. 

It was one of those moments when the difference 
between possessing and not possessing a second 
cartridge, a cool head, and an accurate aim is just the 
difference between life and death. While the beast 
was in the air the hunter fired ; the bullet passed from 
eye to brain, and another lion was added to the 
sportsman’s already lengthy tale. 

As the waggons came within hail of the first of the 
Bechuana kraals, a black cloud, narrow and irregular 
in outline, and seeming to touch the ground, obscured 
the view a few paces ahead. Before Gumming had 
time to make inquiries his two dogs jumped from the 
waggon and darted at the cloud—not to inspect the 
phenomenon, but to devour such portions of it as 
215 


ON THE KALAHARI 


were accessible. The mysterious cloud was a countless 
flight of locusts. 

At the kraals a few Bechuana guides were obtained, 
and with these (the Cape boys had taken an early 
opportunity to run away) an entry on the Kalahari 
was effected. 

Riding, as he often did, wide of the waggon- 
track, on the chance of sport, Gumming shot his 
first rhinoceros. A great white mass visible now 
and then beyond the line of bushes proved to be a 
female with her calf, whose movements she directed 
after the manner customary among these pachyder- 
mata, by using her horn, three feet in length, as a 
goad, pressing it continuously against the young 
one’s ribs. 

Immediately the horse became restive, and at last 
took fright at the strange apparition, and, when he 
landed with his master near the bushes, mother and 
offspring had disappeared. As the horse continued 
very frightened Gumming dismounted, tethered him, 
and wandered off to a large bush or circle of brushwood 
near where the rhinoceros had passed. When he had 
climbed the low hillock on which this stood he could 
look well over it, and on the far side saw what he was 
not prepared for—a black male rhinoceros almost as 
big as an elephant, which, casting a surly look on the 
visitor, set off briskly in pursuit, chasing him round 
the bush. 

This was unlooked for—a reversal, in fact, of the 
plan which the hunter had sketched out for himself, 
and a decidedly awkward situation. “ Had his 
216 


CHASED BY A RHINOCEROS 


activity been equal to his ugliness, my wanderings would 
have terminated here,” says the traveller. 

A sudden spurt away from the bush towards the 
open gave Gumming a chance to study the resources 
and defences of his foe. There are four species of this 
elegant animal—the single-horned black, the single¬ 
horned white, the double-horned black, and ditto 
white. Both black varieties are exceedingly fierce, 
and will rush headlong and unprovoked at any strange 
object that attracts their attention. 

The sportsman waited patiently for the beast to 
present a vulnerable part, for a front shot at a rhi¬ 
noceros had, in the days of leaden bullets, the same 
effect as pelting him with marbles. At last he left 
the bush, and, taking a wavering line, rushed towards 
the intruder. Gumming, despite his extraordinary 
height and breadth, was exceedingly active—Eton 
football training had helped to make him so—and 
before there could be any danger to himself he had 
dodged to one side of the animal, and with careful aim 
killed him with a single shot behind the left foreleg. 

Time showed that the young man was not to be 
exempt from the special misery which Fate seems 
to lay up for most explorers—difficulties with the 
native guides. The Bechuanas who had accompanied 
him had done so all unwillingly, and only at the 
command of their chief, who himself had warned the 
stranger of the perils which he risked in venturing on 
the Kalahari; and, after purposely leading their 
employer astray, they broke into open mutiny, and 
looked significantly to their weapons. 

217 


ANOTHER MUTINY 


A charge sometimes brought against African and 
Indian explorers or commanders is that of brutality 
towards the natives. But it frequently happens that 
the white man in command of a dozen, or a hundred, 
or a thousand blacks is the only man of his colour 
within hundreds of miles. So long as the more cultured 
and resourceful brain keeps the upper hand all is well; 
but the history of exploration numbers only too many 
tragedies resulting from a moment’s vacillation, weak¬ 
ness, or signs of “ giving in,” on the part of the white 
man. Gumming was not given to vacillation. When 
the guides touched their assegais he touched his 
pistols ; when they brandished them he brandished a 
sjambok—not carelessly or after the manner of one 
unskilled, but with method and boldness; and his 
onslaught ended in the guides fleeing as fast as sore 
bones could carry them, and for the second time he 
was alone but for the little Bosjemann. 

This desertion left him dependent on his compass 
by day and the stars by night for guidance ; but neither 
stars nor compass could tell him where to find water, 
and his horses were dying—one was already dead—for 
want of it. Foiled in his attempts to find a spring, he 
was reduced to digging haphazard—again to no 
purpose. But, when patience and strength were ahke 
exhausted, the Bosjemann pointed triumphantly to a 
considerable flock of birds over their heads, flying with 
necks craned. 

“ Our guides, baas ! Know where to find water ! 
You look !” 

Gumming did look, and found the native’s statement 
218 


DANGEROUS SPORT 


to be happily true. The birds slowly swept ground- 
wards, and disappeared from sight behind a circle of 
bushes about a mile away ; and the black, who had gone 
in chase, was soon waving to his master, frantic with 
delight. The new guides had shown the way to a large 
pool of fresh water. 

On the return journey the great hunter’s ambition 
to possess himself of skins and tusks and the like, twice 
nearly cost him his life. On the first occasion he had 
ridden down a cow elephant, and firing, only wounded 
her. To obtain a surer shot, he got down from his 
horse, and hastily looked round for some bush or tree 
to fasten him to ; then almost let go the bridle as a 
terrible sound struck his ear—the war-note of the 
wounded animal’s mate, a monstrous bull elephant, 
which came along at a frenzied gallop, thundering over 
the ground as though his weight would crack it. 

“ I don’t think I’ll wait for you, my lord,” muttered 
the hunter, and sought the stirrup. But his horse 
seemed suddenly to have gone beside himself with 
fear : not only did he begin to back, and buck, and foil 
his master’s every effort at mounting him, but, as 
though the wounded elephant were a friend with 
whom he was in sympathy, deliberately started to 
sidle towards her, dragging his luckless owner straight 
into the line which the infuriated bull was following. 

Gumming saw that flight was not for him, and he let 
go the bridle, slipped a cartridge into his gun in place 
of the spent one, and faced the oncoming tide, well 
knowing that failure of nerve or eye would spell death 
for him. The click-click with which his hammers shot 
219 


CUMMING’S FIFTIETH ELEPHANT 


back (the day of hammerless guns had not yet come) 
seemed to reverberate like the roar of cannon ; an 
immense black mass, whence protruded two long 
white streaks of ivory, danced and swam before his 
eyes, shutting out every other object. Now or never 
was the time to save himself. He fired one shot, but 
for the life of him could not tell whether the dark cloud 
in front still moved or was stationary, for his whirling 
brain made the very earth under his feet heave. There 
was a bellow of pain from somewhere ; it might have 
come from either elephant, from the horse, or, for 
aught he knew, from his own lips ; for the man who is 
always cool and never frightened is a being known only 
to fiction. An endless time seemed to elapse between 
the pulling of the second trigger and the consequent 
report; and Gumming was almost expecting to hear 
the dismal little snap that announced the barrel to 
have been uncharged, when the crash came, followed 
by one, less far-reaching perhaps, yet which shook the 
ground on which the hunter stood. The bullet had 
found its way to the animal’s brain, and the mighty 
hunter had shot his fiftieth elephant. 

The second brush with death came while master 
and servant were encamped near the Orange River. 
They were engaged in “ cleaning up ” for the next 
trek—the Bosjemann in the economical costume of 
his kind, and the Scotsman clad only in shirt and 
breeches—when a grey-brown mass, hitherto unnoticed, 
began to move quickly towards a clump of rocks. It 
was a boa-constrictor more than fifteen feet long. 

“ Shoot, baas, shoot!” cried the httle man, springing 
220 


BATTLE WITH A BOA-CONSTRICTOR 


back to where his master’s gun lay ready. But 
Gumming had long been anxious to possess a boa-skin 
uninjured by bullet-gash, and here seemed a favour¬ 
able opportunity. He armed himself with a stout 
eight-foot pole and gave chase, catching up with the 
serpent as its head and the greater part of its body 
disappeared between two rocks. 

The sportsman laid his rod to hand, seized the tail 
as though it were a tug-of-war rope, and signalled to 
his follower to do the same. 

“ Pull,” he said, “ and stand clear as soon as he 
shows his head!” and both tugged lustily. But the 
boa, comfortably wedged within the fissure, treated 
their energies with contempt. Not to be beaten, its 
persecutors took a strong “ reim,” or rope of ox-hide, 
bound it round the scaly body, and began the struggle 
anew. 

But the second performance was not a minute old 
before the reim was jerked violently forward, and the 
two men loosed their hold, standing for a second 
fascinated and blood-frozen. The monster had sud¬ 
denly uncoiled, and, gliding round the right-hand rock, 
which was of considerably less girth than the hunters 
had imagined, now reared his head, open-mouthed, 
and hissing and grunting with fury, within a yard 
of the Scotsman’s bare legs. 

Gumming was the first to recover from the sudden 
chill of terror, and, dragging his man back, picked 
up the pole, struck at the horrible reptile—and its 
skin was exhibited in London and Scotland with the 
rest of Mr. Gordon Gumming’s spoils. 

221 


CHAPTER XVII 


INTO THE FORBIDDEN CITY 

The first European to enter Lhassa—“ The Land of Grass ”—A 
Tartar caravanserai—The disguise—Its effect on Chinese mules 
—Tartar hospitahty—The steppes of Ordos—The storm— 
Abandoning hope—Hue’s discovery—A real haven of refuge— 
The great caravan—“ The poetry of the journey,” and the sub¬ 
sequent prose—Crossing the poisonous mountain—A hne of 
dead men’s bones—Illness of Gabet—Parting with the caravan 
—Forty deaths from cold—The Kolos—Fallen among brigands 
—Despair of the party—Rescued by Samdadchiemba—Gabet 
restored to health—The great plateau—Summer at last— 
Another alarm—Change of diet—The desert fire—Hue averts 
a massacre—Lha Ssa, the Land of Spirits. 

Till quite recently the number of Europeans who 
have succeeded in gaining an entry into Lhassa, the 
sacred Buddhist, or Lamaist, city of Thibet, was 
probably limited to three, the first of whom. Manning, 
was an Englishman ( 18 II-I 812 ). 

The second, and more celebrated, successful attempt* 
was that of Evariste Hue, a French missionary, who 

* While in the forbidden city. Hue met a Cashmerian who claimed 
to have served Moorcroft, the Bokliara hero, in Lhassa, in 1826. 
As Moorcroft died in 1825, and himself expressly states that he was 
not allowed to enter even Chinese Tartary, the story may well be 
attributed to the Cashmerian’s imagination. 

222 


‘‘THE LAND OF GRASS” 


with his colleague, M. Gabet, reached the Thibetan 
capital in 1846, “ after eighteen months’ struggle with 
sufferings and obstacles of infinite number and variety ”; 
and though their wanderings are, of necessity, secondary 
in importance to the main achievement, yet their 
adventures in the Mongolian deserts are both thrilling 
and instructive. 

Towards the end of 1844 they left the Chinese 
mission-station of Si Wang, where Hue had laboured 
for five years, and passed on to where they were to 
meet a young Mongolian convert, rejoicing in the name 
of Samdadchiemba, who had been occupied in procuring 
the beasts of burden—three camels, one horse, and 
one mule—and who was to accompany them to Thibet. 

A short ride of nine miles took the travellers quite 
away from every appearance of habitation or cultiva¬ 
tion on to a desert plain known as “The Land of Grass,” 
which terminated in a high hill-ridge overrun with 
foxes, wolves, and an odd tiger or so. By the time the 
summit was gained there was scarcely enough light left 
to show the way down to the valley below, in which lay 
a small inn kept by ^Christian family. The mission¬ 
aries had decided to make this their first stopping- 
place—^not the inn, strictly speaking, but the inn-yard, 
for they had purchased a Tartar tent, to which they 
wished to accustom themselves as soon as possible. 

“ Inns of this description,” says M. Hue, “ occur at 
intervals in the deserts of Tartary along the confines 
of China. They consist almost universally of a large 
square enclosure formed by high poles interlaced with 
brushwood. In the centre of this enclosure is a mud- 
223 


TARTAR CARAVANSERAI 


house, never more than ten feet high. With the 
exception of a few wretched rooms at each extremity, 
the entire structure consists of one apartment, serving 
at once for cooking, eating, and sleeping, thoroughly 
dirty, and full of smoke and intolerable stench. Into 
this pleasant place all travellers, without distinction, 
are ushered, the portion of space allotted for their 
accommodation being a long, wide hang —a sort of 
furnace occupying more than three-fourths of the 
apartment, about four feet high, the flat, smooth top 
of which is covered with a reed mat, which the richer 
guests cover again with furs. 

“ The hang is till evening a stage, full of animation, 
where the guests eat, drink, smoke, gamble, dispute, 
and fight. With nightfall, the refectory, tavern and 
gambling-house of the day is suddenly converted into a 
dormitory. The travellers who have any bedclothes 
unroll and arrange them ; those who have none settle 
themselves as best they may in their personal attire, 
and lie down side by side. When the guests are very 
numerous they arrange themselves in two circles, feet 
to feet. Thus reclined, those so disposed sleep ; others, 
awaiting sleep, smoke, drink tea, and gossip. The 
effect of the scene, dimly exhibited by an imperfect 
wick floating amid thick, dirty, stinking oil, whose 
receptacle is ordinarily a broken teacup, is fantastic, 
and to the stranger fearful.” 

From such surroundings the tent, though pitched 
and arranged by prentice hands, was a haven of 
refuge, and after a wash and a meal in the private 
apartment of the host, or “Comptroller of the Chest,” the 
224 


THE DISGUISE 

wayfarers went out to their goat-skin beds and fire of 
brushwood. 

Before daylight they were astir again, for a task, 
for which there had been no time on the previous day, 
had to be performed—the satisfactory disguising of 
themselves. Following the general custom of Chinese 
missionaries, the two Frenchmen had hitherto worn 
the habit and pigtail of the Celestial, but now they were 
to shave their heads and don the long yellow robe, 
red, sleeveless jacket, and yellow, red-tufted cap of the 
Thibetan lama or priest. 

The new costume came near to getting them into 
trouble before they had worn it many hours; for, as 
they came to the mountain of Sain-Oula, the mules 
of a Chinese caravan going in the opposite direction 
took fright at the gaudy dresses of the new-made 
lamas, and fled, overturning the waggons to which they 
were harnessed. By good fortune the owners were 
too busied over the task of rescuing their belongings 
to execute the threats they hurled at the disturbers of 
the traffic, and were fain to content themselves with 
roundly cursing them. 

Except that once they nearly perished from thirst, 
from which they were rescued by a timely rain-storm, 
nothing specially worthy of note occurred till the 
missionaries encamped near Chaborte. When they 
had pitched the tent and bedded the camels, Samdad- 
chiemba, who had been despatched in quest of fuel, 
returned with the news that he had discovered a camp 
of wandering Tartars a furlong away, and that, to test 
his masters’ familiarity with their new role, he had 
225 p 


TARTAR HOSPITALITY 


told the tent-dwellers that the lamas whom he served 
would presently visit them. And he had scarcely 
repeated this when the chief of the Tartars entered 
the Frenchmen’s tent, and with great humility re¬ 
minded them that it was the “ Feast of Yue Ping ”— 
a general holiday and season of merry-making, and 
implored the holy men to pass a day or two with him 
and his family. They excused themselves as well as 
might be, agreeing, however, to repair to the old man’s 
tent for a cup of tea. 

They went, and found that the “ cup of tea ” had 
expanded to a collation, consisting of tea with milk, 
loaves fried in butter, cheese, raisins, and “ jujubes,” 
or candied roots. Furthermore, these had no sooner 
been discussed than the old man turned to one of his 
sons, and told him to “ bring on the mutton.” The 
whole family now gathered round the little stool-like 
table on which, with some ceremony, the boiled carcass 
of a huge sheep was placed. The chief drew his knife, 
cut off and bisected the tail, giving half to each of the 
lamas; for that portion of the animal is regarded by 
the Tartars as the tastiest, and therefore sacred to the 
most distinguished guest. 

Now, the tails of the Mongolian sheep are stupendous, 
the fat alone weighing from six to eight pounds. 

The Frenchmen paled and trembled, and conversed 
hurriedly in their own tongue. The situation was 
delicate, even dangerous; for, if by any gesture of 
repugnance they signified that they were unused to a 
bonne bouche at which any right-minded lama would 
jump—in other words, that they were not what they 
226 


TARTAR HOSPITALITY 


pretended to be—their lives would probably pay the 
penalty of their having travestied the sacred office. 
The dilemma, and escape therefrom, is best expressed 
in Hue’s own words : 

“ Our embarrassment was extreme. That great 
white mass of fat had been given to us with the best 
intentions ; but, not quite clear of European prejudices, 
we could not venture, without bread or salt, upon the 
lumps of tallow that quivered in our hands ; for plate 
or fork there was none. Furtively to replace the 
horrible masses upon the table would be imprudent; 
openly to express to our Amphitryon our repugnance 
to this Tartar delicacy was impossible. . . . We cut 
the villainous tail into numerous pieces, and insisted, 
on that day of general rejoicing, upon the company’s 
partaking with us of this precious dish. There was 
infinite reluctance to deprive us of the treat, but we 
persisted, and by degrees got entirely clear of the 
abominable mess, ourselves rejoicing instead in a cut 
from a leg, the savour of which was more agreeable to 
our early training.” 

When at length the repast was ended, a young man 
present—a toolholos, or bard—took up a three-stringed 
fiddle and chanted a number of folk-songs, and, at 
the visitors’ request, the Tartar “ Invocation to 
Timour,” or Tamerlane. This finished, the musician 
took his payment in liquor, and went to entertain the 
owners of the next tent, while the old man’s sons and 
friends sang other songs, which lasted till the over¬ 
wearied lamas could muster some colourable pretext 
for withdrawing. 

p 2 


227 


THE STEPPES OF ORDOS 


But the benefits derivable from the Tartar chief’s 
acquaintance were not to stop short at gratuitous 
boiled mutton. On the morning after the feast, the 
travellers discovered that their horse and mule had 
either strayed, or been stolen by the expert Chinese horse- 
thieves. The old Tartar, discovering this, straightway 
sent men in all directions to scour the country, and 
before evening the missing beasts were restored. 

The steppes of Ordos which had now to be crossed 
represented the Mongolian desert in its harshest aspect. 
Of them M. Hue says : 

“ Wherever you turn you find only a soil, bare and 
without verdure ; rocky ravines, marly hills, and plains 
covered with a fine moving sand, blown by the im¬ 
petuous winds in every direction. For pasture you 
will only find a few thorny bushes and poor fern, dusty 
and fetid. At intervals only, this horrible soil produces 
some thin, sharp grass, so firm in the earth that the 
animals can only get it by digging the sand with their 
muzzles. The numerous swamps which had been so 
heavy a desolation to us on the borders of the Yellow 
River became matter of regret in the Ordos, so very 
rare here is water ; not a single rivulet is there, not a 
spring where the traveller can quench his thirst. At 
distances onfy are there ponds and cisterns filled with 
a fetid, muddy water. . . . But our personal privations 
were trifling, in comparison with the pain we felt at 
seeing our animals wanting water almost every day 
in a country where they had nothing to eat beyond 
a few plants nearly dried up, and where they accord¬ 
ingly fell away visibly. 


228 


THE STORM 


“ After some days’ travelling the horse assumed a 
truly wretched appearance ; it bent down its head, 
and seemed at every step as though it would sink down 
with weakness ; the camels painfully balanced them¬ 
selves on their long legs, and their emaciated humps 
hung over their backs like empty bags.” 

Yet, waterless as the steppes were, they were not 
abandoned by animals. Gray squirrels, yellow goats, 
and rich-plumaged pheasants were frequently to be 
seen; also hares, so tame that they made no attempt 
to flee as the travellers passed. 

But, as so often happens in the Asiatic desert, the 
drought was to be broken up with but scant warning. 
Quite suddenly the thirsting camels stretched their 
necks and sniffed at the air, and at the same moment 
the hitherto broiling sun was hidden in a dark bank 
of cloud. Having now become experienced in desert 
storms, the missionaries made haste to look for some 
sheltered spot on which to fix the tent, but in vain. 
For miles round nothing but the bare flat steppe 
extended, with the exception of an eminence straight 
in front of them, which looked as though it might be 
the beginning of a hill-range. If this offered no pro¬ 
tection from wind or rain, it would at least afford a firm 
foundation for the tent, and the camels were urged on 
towards it. 

But now the intense heat had been succeeded by 
the piercing chill of a north wind. The sky began to 
gleam on all sides with appalling forks of hghtning, and, 
as the whole desert vibrated with the thunder-roar, a 
torrent was suddenly loosed from the skies—rain, then 
229 


HUG’S DISCOVERY 


hail, and, finally, half-melted snow. In a moment 
the three men were drenched, and, aching mth the 
unexpected cold, they dismounted, hoping to walk 
themselves warm; but, after a few steps, their feet 
began to sink in the wet sand as in a bog. Progress 
of any sort grew more and more impossible, and at 
last, within thirty yards of the hill-foot, the camels, 
horse, and mule gave up the attempt and threw them¬ 
selves down, while the men, exhausted and hopeless, 
loosed the saddles and sat on them, huddling up to 
the camels for warmth. To pitch the tent was quite 
out of the question, for the canvas was satmated 
and already half frozen, and nowhere near was 
there an inch of ground hard enough to hold the 
supports. 

“ This means death,” said Gabet in a low voice; for 
already the blood seemed to be freezing and the limbs 
growing rigid. 

Hue, by far the more robust of the two, rose to his 
feet. 

“ I shall go to the hill,” he said; “ I may find a pro¬ 
tected spot on which the tent can be pitched.” 

Perseveringly he ploughed through the sand-swamp, 
and had scarcely begun the ascent when his feet lighted 
on a winding and well-trodden path, and, following this 
for a few dozen yards, he found that it ceased at the 
mouth of a ravine. He turned into the opening, then 
stopped with a start of surprise. To his left hand 
lay two door-like apertmes leading into two enormous 
caves. 

He turned and ran down the hill like a madman. 

230 


A HAVEN OF REFUGE 


“ We are saved—saved !” he cried to those below. 
“ There are caves in the ravine.” 

New life welled up in the other men. Leading or 
calling the animals through the fast-forming slough, 
they toiled towards the hill-path, and in another 
quarter of an hour were comfortably housed in one of 
the huge excavations, where, before a roaring fire, they 
were able to defy the storm, which lasted till morning, 
and which, had they been exposed to it many more 
hours, must inevitably have been the death of them. 
The caves were obviously the deserted dwelling of 
Chinese or Tartar nomads, for, on the floor of the one 
chosen by the adventurers, was a blackened patch, and 
above it a rough attempt at a smoke outlet, and near 
at hand a great pile of hemp-stalk for fuel; while the 
second hollow contained stacks of oat-straw and millet- 
stems, which the animals welcomed as litter and fodder. 

So sudden had been the transition from utter despair 
to warmth and comfort that the grave missionaries 
found themselves singing and jumping for joy Hke a 
couple of lads, and too happy to rebuke Samdad- 
chiemba, who took advantage of the occasion to con¬ 
sume thrice his allotted quantity of bread fried in fat. 

In the morning the sun shone again, though with but 
little power, and all the way to the Kouhou Noor, or 
Blue Lake, the days were chilly and the nights intoler¬ 
ably cold. At a lake-shore village the travellers heard 
such grim accounts of the violence and brutality of 
the Kolos, or Mongol brigands, that they wisely waited 
for a caravan, returning from Pekin to Lhassa, to come 
up. From the size of this it would have appeared that 
231 


‘‘POETRY" AND “PROSE" 


any reasonable number of robbers might have been 
held at defiance; for it consisted of three thousand men 
and several thousand horses, oxen, and camels, and 
was guarded by three hundred Chinese soldiers and 
two hundred well-armed Tartars. The latter, brave 
and reckless fellows all, rode ahead or reconnoitred the 
surrounding hills, but the Chinamen were conspicuous 
by their carefulness to avoid any appearance of danger ; 
in fact, their principal object seemed to be to remain 
behind in the camp each morning for the purpose of 
appropriating anything that had accidentally been 
left, then to ride in the rear of the caravan so as to be 
ready to pick up any article of value that might be 
dropped by those in front. 

Hue describes the early days of the march from the 
Kouhou Noor as “ perfect poetry ” ; the weather was 
magnificent, and water and pasturage were to be found 
without great difficulty. “ We asked one another,” 
he adds, “ what people could mean by representing 
this Thibet journey as something so formidable. It 
seemed impossible for anyone to travel more com¬ 
fortably or more agreeably. Alas ! this enchantment 
was not to be of long duration.” 

One or two snowstorms put an end to the fine weather, 
and the “ poetry ” of the journey was changed to very 
severe prose, when, in fording a river, everyone was 
nearly frozen to death, while one man and two horses 
were drowned. And two months of this sort of thing 
yet lay between the caravan and the forbidden city, 
and most of the way uninhabited desert! 

Beyond the river were no more signs of pasturage, 
232 


CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN 


the sole vegetation being stunted saltpetrous bushes 
growing in soil that was a lively mixture of stone, nitre, 
salt, and borax; and, a few miles beyond this genial 
region, lay the worst portion of the way—the passage 
of the Bourhan Bota, a mountain which is continually 
enveloped in poisonous vapour. 

When a few yards of this had been climbed, the 
horses refused to carry their riders farther; and, even 
when relieved of their burdens, they could only move 
slowly and with pain. By degrees faces grew pale 
and limbs almost useless, so that the men threw them¬ 
selves on the ground, if only for momentary respite 
from fatigue; then stumbled on again for a few steps, 
only again to fall and lie groaning and almost longing 
for death. Multiply the worst possible attack of sea¬ 
sickness by ten, and you will have some idea of the 
terrors of the Bourhan Bota. Hundreds of the animals 
were left behind to die or stray solely because the 
owners lacked energy to lead, coax, or thrash them 
forward. 

But the summit was reached at last; wholesome air 
filled the lungs, and ejaculations of joy and relief were 
heard on all sides, redoubling when the chief of the 
caravan announced that the downward march would 
be free of the recent horrors. Indeed, a further pecu¬ 
liarity of the Bourhan Bota is that only on its east and 
north sides are the vapours noticeable. They appear 
to consist of carbonic acid gas, which, heavier than the 
atmospheric air, condenses on the ground and remains 
there, unless dispersed by some unusual agitation of 
the atmosphere. 


233 


DEAD MEN’S BONES 


The next piece of mountaineering consisted in cross¬ 
ing the Chuga in a whirlwind of snow ; and, on arriving 
on the steppe below, the escorts took leave of the cara¬ 
van, telling the travellers that their perils were ended. 
Unfortunately, there was good reason to fear that they 
were only beginning, for, after a few miles of the steppe, 
animals began to die for want of water and pasturage ; 
and when, later, the way was seen to be outlined 
with the bleached bones of previous travellers, 
the men felt that there was every chance of their 
own skeletons soon being added to the dismal line. 
“Gabet grew seriously ill, and could scarcely sit in his 
saddle; and there was still the Bayen Khar at range 
to be crossed, with its precipices and avalanches, 
and beyond it a score of mountains, toilsome if not 
perilous. 

At the foot of the range a tolerable camping-ground 
offered itself, and so welcome was this comparative 
comfort that all but a very small minority were for 
making a prolonged stay. But the missionaries did 
not feel justified in lingering ; and when Hue, in his 
quality of lama, asked for volunteers, a small band of 
Thibetans gladly agreed to accompany him. 

Without special accident, the ridge was scaled, and, 
as before, only marked the beginning of another ice¬ 
bound desert. The rigour of the frost increased to such 
an appalling extent that, in a few days, forty of the 
fifty-eight men who had detached themselves from the 
caravan were dead; whilst Gabet seemed so lifeless 
that the Thibetans wondered that “ the holy lama ” 
should take further trouble with him. Nevertheless, 
234 


THE KOLOS 


Hue persevered in his attempts to save his comrade, 
swathing him in all the blankets he could borrow, and 
fastening him in his saddle with cords. 

Half a mile from the next hill-ridge one of the 
Thibetans suddenly shouted : 

“ See ! there are horsemen yonder ; yet we are in the 
desert, and everyone knows that there are not even 
shepherds in this locality.” 

The little band reined up, and apprehensively 
scanned the line of hills. Two or three horsemen had 
appeared over the brow, and seemed to be examining 
the arrivals. Then a couple of signal-shouts were 
heard, and in a moment two dozen mounted men came 
into view, and, with a cry of triumph, galloped down the 
hillside at a breakneck pace. 

As though their past misfortunes had been insuffi¬ 
cient, the caravan had fallen among a gang of the 
boldest and most bloodthirsty robbers in Asia. The 
riders were Kolos, twenty-seven of them, each having 
“ a carbine slung at the saddle-bow and two long 
sabres in the girdle, with thick black hair falling in 
disorder over the shoulders and a wolf’s skin stuck on 
the head by way of a cap. The sight of them seemed 
to freeze the very blood in our veins ; we stood for a 
moment perfectly petrified.” 

As the enemy rode up, the members of the caravan 
dismounted with the exception of Gabet, who was fixed 
in his saddle, and remained in the background quite 
unconscious of what was going on. The Kolos halted 
at a few paces from the men in front, and the chief 
looked contemptuously on the group. 

235 


DESPAIR OF THE PARTY 


“You will fight he asked. 

A young Thibetan edged his way boldly forward and 
replied : 

“If there were not invalids among us, I would 
answer ‘ Yes, for I have fought the Kolos before.’ As 
it is, I say, ‘ Brave men never run away.’ ” 

A murmur, half of disquiet at the reckless speech, 
half of applause at the young man’s courageous front, 
rose from the caravan. The Kolo leader, after a few 
words to his men, said : 

“ Then we shall charge you ; and if you have fought 
the Kolos, you know they never give quarter.” 

Hue looked sorrowfully round on his companions. 
A charge meant butchery ; these men were not the 
faint-hearted Egyptian or Arabian bedawin, or the 
craftily blustering Mongols of the Chinese frontier ; 
they were without fear and without mercy, and not to 
be routed easily, even when vastly outnumbered. 
Personally, he had never handled a weapon in his life, 
and now, in any case, his assumed character of a lama 
would forbid his shedding blood; in addition to 
Gabet, three other men were so weak that they could 
scarcely stand, and Samdadchiemba, though brave 
and loyal, was but a lad, and unarmed; so that, 
at the most, they were twelve against seven-and- 
twenty. 

But if Hue was less ready than his fellows to take to 
sword or pistol, he at least had no intention of running 
away. One man’s courage or fear is not another’s ; 
and the dauntless Frenchman who, at the command of 
his superiors, had undertaken a journey across a desert 
236 



Samdadchiemba to 'J'he Rescue 

“ Well, why do you not charge us ?” he asked. 

The chief backed a pace or two, and again inquired uneasily : 

“Who is it.?” 

“Ay, who .? Attack us, and you will soon learn,” said the young man, with jeering defiance 




















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RESCUED BY SAMDADCHIEMBA 


the horrors of which eclipse those of the Sahara or 
the Thar, towards a cit}^ where discovery meant death 
by tortures unnarneable, at least had no need of a 
swashbuckler’s reputation to bear witness to his 
bravery. 

The Kolo captain gave a brief command ; his men 
backed into line, and drew their swords. Just then 
Hue felt his arm touched, and, turning, saw Sam- 
dadchiemba trying to lead Gabet’s horse forward. 

“ Have patience, my benefactor,” he whispered. “ I 
am going to save you.” And, bridle in hand, the young 
man pushed his way to the front, till he stood within 
a few yards of the robber chief. 

A cry of astonishment escaped the latter at sight of 
the mounted and muffled missionary, and was faintly 
echoed by his followers. 

“ Who is that—man ?” he stammered, and pointed 
with a hand suddenly, unsteady at Gabet, who sat 
motionless and with his face half hidden in his many 
wrappings. 

Samdadchiemba laughed jauntily. 

‘‘ Well, why do you not charge us ?” he asked. 

The chief backed a pace or two, and again inquired 
uneasily : 

“Who is it?” 

“ Ay, who ! Attack us, and you will soon learn,” 
said the young man, with jeering defiance. 

The Thibetan who had before spoken was quick to 
fall in with Samdadchiemba’s scheme. He cried : 

“ He is a grand lama from the western sky, and the 
power of his prayers is limitless.” 

237 


THE GREAT PLATEAU 


“ Maybe he is something more than that,” hinted 
Samdadchiemba darkly. 

But a “ grand lama from the western sky ” was 
quite as much as the Kolos cared to encounter just then, 
and the faithful Mongol was spared the task of strain¬ 
ing his imagination so far as to promote the mysterious 
horseman to the dignity of a Buddhic incarnation, 
which he had been prepared to do should need arise. 
With a groan of penitent humility, the chief clasped 
his hands and raised them to his forehead in token of 
reverence, which example his men followed; then 
the whole band wheeled sharply, and galloped away 
to their mountain seclusion, anxious to be out of 
sight of the terrible veiled being before evil befell 
them. 

When Hue had recovered from his astonishment at 
this incomprehensible procedure, he glanced up at his 
friend. Then, for the first time, he noticed that Gabet’s 
recent weird and unearthly appearance, consequent on 
the waxen stiffness with which the frost-sickness had 
stamped his features, had become strangely enhanced ; 
and by a very simple means. The wily Mongol had 
whipped off the outer cloak which hung burnous-wise 
over the invalid to guard him against rain or snow, 
leaving him swaddled, mummy-hke, in his dozen 
thicknesses of particoloured blanket, and giving 
him the appearance of one of the images which the 
missionaries had often seen in Buddhist temples. 
Thus, by a clever device, had Samdadchiemba averted 
a massacre. 

With the flight of the robbers, half the miseries of 
238 


SUMMER AT LAST 


the journey seemed gone. Though the extreme cold 
must still last during the twelve days’ march across the 
plateau on which the mountain ascent now landed the 
travellers, the sun suddenly burst from behind the 
clouds in a brightness that cheered, if it could not warm. 
The Thibetans, who hitherto had regarded Gabet as a 
dead man, began to prophesy his recovery ; and, in 
truth, by the time the twelve days had expired, he 
was well enough to ride unsupported and to discard 
the wardrobe that had but just missed winning him 
Divine honours. 

The downward climb from the plateau occupied four 
whole days, but the rigour of the descent was amply 
repaid ; for below lay water and pasturage and warmth. 
No more melted snow for drink ; no more pestilential 
vapours; no more agonizing giddiness and torture 
from the cruel frost. Here was summer. Though it 
was still morning, a camp was made, and no one 
thought of moving further that day. 

While everybody was busy tea-making, a cry arose : 
“ The Kolos are on us !” 

Samdadchiemba looked at Gabet, and shook his head 
mournfully ; his ruse would not work this time. But 
the young Thibetan, shading his eyes with his hand, 
laughed in sudden relief, saying : 

“ Back to your tents. These men have come to sell, 
not to slay.” 

Which was true. The advancing horsemen were 
harmless traders, with fresh meat and butter for sale; 
and the half-starved travellers readily cleared them of 
their wares, either with cash or by barter. The 
239 


ANOTHER ALARM 

missionaries procured several pounds of butter and 
eight fine legs of mutton in return for Hue’s snuff-box, 
an old pair of boots, a knife, and the saddle of the mule 
recently defunct—all of which articles, coming from 
Pekin, were of great value in Thibetan eyes. 

Towards evening a doleful cry arose in the camp : 

Mi you /” (Fire !). In a moment the place was in an 
uproar, and the Thibetans, who had faced their former 
foes unflinchingly, wailed like children as a sheet of 
flame rolled towards the tents, licking up the grass as 
it came. Hue seized a blanket, and signed to the 
others to do the same ; and, infected with his fearless¬ 
ness and presence of mind, the travellers fought 
the flames till they were entirely averted from the 
camp. 

But the trouble was not yet at an end. Driven back 
from the tents, the fire shot sideways across the desert, 
where, accelerated by the breeze, it began rapidly to 
consume the pasturage. The oldest of the Thibetans 
cried, with a ring of terror in his voice : 

“ It must be extinguished. The grass must be saved 
at all costs.” 

While with redoubled energy and vigilance Hue and 
his little salvage corps recommenced their attack, Gabet 
shouted warningly : 

“ Save the beasts !” 

And here lay the greatest difficulty of all, for while 
the horses instinctively sought refuge in flight, the 
camels stood stohdly blinking, and waiting for the blaze 
to come to them. Pushing, beating, objurgation, were 
all in vain; not an inch would the stupid beasts stir ; 

240 


THE DESERT FIRE 


even when the fire had caught their tails and hair, they 
still gaped and grunted phlegmatically on their would- 
be rescuers, who themselves got seriously burned in 
their gallant attempt to keep the fiames from the un¬ 
grateful animals. 

When with untiring effort the last remnants of the 
fire were subdued, only three of the camels remained 
ahve. 

Scorched and exhausted, Hue returned to the camp, 
where, to his surprise, he was met by the old Thibetan 
with tears of joy. 

The old man fell on his knees before him and cried : 

“ The holy lama has saved the lives of all of us.” 

“You exaggerate, my friend,” said the missionary 
gently. 

“ Exaggerate!” 

The Thibetan rose to his feet excitedly. “ Look 
yonder. Sir Lama.” 

A hundred shepherds, armed with guns and knives, 
had approached, and, having calculated the amount of 
the damage, were now capering with joy at finding it 
so little. 

“ Had the fire continued, those men would not have 
left one of us alive ; I know them,” continued the 
Thibetan, shuddering. “ Nothing can equal the fury 
of these poor children of the desert when their pastures 
are bmut, whether by malice or mischance; it is as 
bad as if you destroyed their herds.” 

And for the remainder of the journey Hue’s intense 
popularity was almost embarrassing. 

One more mountain had yet to be crossed—the cele- 
241 Q 


LHA SSA 


brated Hill of Penance, the climbing of which is to 
pious Mongols a means of grace ; then at last the 
weary little band saw, lying at their feet, Lha Ssa, the 
“ Land of Spirits,” the “ Eternal City,” the Rome of 
the Buddhic world.* 

* Though the missionaries’ doings in Lhassa do not come under 
the head of desert adventures, those who have not read the account 
given by MM. Hue and Gabet will be interested, perhaps, to 
know that they were kindly received by the Regent, and remained 
in the city long enough to gain a good insight into the manners, 
customs and religion of the Thibetans, and were at last ordered 
to leave through the jealousy of the Chinese Ambassador. 


242 


CHAPTER XVIII 


FIVE YEARS IN THE SIBERIAN DESERT 

Thomas Witlam Atkinson—A romantic career—Forty thousand 
miles of Asiatic travel—The steppes—The swamp—Prisoners 
—A horrible prospect—Out of the mire—The steppes in fine 
weather—A “ hand-to-hand ” struggle with an eagle—Mys¬ 
terious terror of the horses—A storm—A whirlwind—Towards 
the Gobi Desert—The camp of the Kirghiz—Inculcating 
temperance principles—The night alarm—The invasion—The 
robbers put to flight—The chase—Atkinson in a new role. 

From farm-boy at eight years of age to bricklayer’s 
labourer at eighteen, stone-carver at twenty, drawing- 
master at twenty-five, successful architect, and author 
of a scholarly work on Gothic ecclesiastical art at 
thirty, and from that to a weU-known painter and better- 
known explorer—this sums up the history of Thomas 
Witlam Atkinson, the Siberian and Mongolian traveller 
who, between the years 1848 and 1853, walked, rode 
and drove a distance of nearly forty thousand miles 
in North and Central Asia. 

As with many other men who have become pro¬ 
fessional wanderers, his adoption of that career was 
the result of accident. Serious financial losses led him 
to leave London for Germany, and thence for the 
243 Q 2 


A ROMANTIC CAREER 


Russian capital, where he soon established a reputa¬ 
tion as a water-colourist. After a couple of years’ 
touring in Egypt and Greece he returned to St. Peters¬ 
burg. Humboldt, with whom he had become inti¬ 
mate, advised him to turn his attention to Siberia, 
which, in those days, was scarcely known to any but 
those who had reason to know it too well; and, having 
obtained the necessary passports and letters, he 
accordingly set out across country to the Urals, which 
he crossed near Ekaterinburg. 

As his journeyings covered an area extending from 
Kokhan in Turkestan, on the west, to Lake Baikal on 
the east, and down to the Gobi wilderness and the 
country of the Kalkas (into which even Hue and Gabet 
could not penetrate) on the south, it will be seen that, 
with a few exceptions, his journey was one long experi¬ 
ence of “ crossing the desert.” 

Scientifically, the Asiatic steppes over which he 
passed are classified as (a) “ grass,” and (d) “ poor ” 
steppes; but, from a point of view of comfortable 
travelling, Atkinson found little difference between 
the two : both are liable to extremes of heat and cold, 
as well as to the awful rain-storms and whirlwinds of 
North Central Asia, and in the dry season neither the 
one nor the other is very bountifully supplied with 
other water than that of the salt lakes ; and the Ishim 
and Kirghiz steppes, both of which he traversed, are 
sand desert pure and simple. 

After rambling in Russian Turkestan with note¬ 
book and colour-box, the traveller took a northward 
direction towards the Altai Hills and the convict 
244 


THE SWAMP 


settlements ; and, engaging a tarantass and team, with 
the yemstchik, or driver thereof, was enabled to make 
notes and sketches more or less at his ease. Towards 
the first of the settlements the slightly-wooded country 
through which they had been passing ended in barren 
plain, yet so low-lying that the wheels began to squeeze 
out little jets of mud and moisture from the untilled 
soil. 

Late in the afternoon a heavy rain set in; and, though 
the tarantass was still some miles from its destination, 
its speed could not now exceed walking-pace, as, at 
every step, the ground became more sodden and the 
horses less able to extricate their feet from the tight- 
clinging slough. Dusk gathered, and found the belated 
travellers still so far from the settlement that its 
distant lights had a pale, unreal look, and might have 
been mere tongues of marsh-gas. 

Atkinson could not see his driver’s face very dis¬ 
tinctly, but he gathered from the gloom and nervous¬ 
ness of his manner that something more to be feared 
than a wetting was menacing. The servant behind 
was muffled in his rug, and apparently asleep. At a 
more than ordinarily doleful sigh from the yemstchik, 
his employer inquired what the trouble was. 

“ Are you afraid we shall be lost ? Don’t you know 
the way ?” he asked. 

The driver shuddered. 

“ I know it too well,” ho said. “ I know that we 
are coming to the swamps, which, even by day and in 
fine weather, require to be passed with great care.” 

This speech was jerked out in short gasps, for, apart 
245 


PRISONERS 


from the man’s fear, the increased jolting, as the wheels 
passed from hard to soft and from soft to hard spots, 
almost shook the riders off their seats. 

“ That is the beginning,” said the yemstchik, as the 
wheel-horses floundered miserably, and were only 
freed from a bog-patch by the joint energies of leaders 
and driver. Atkinson peered hard through the dark¬ 
ness, and saw that they were nearing slightly higher 
ground, fringed with rushes or flags. He tried to cheer 
the yemstchik. 

“ We shall be on harder soil directly,” he said. 
“ See ! the settlement lights are clear and twinkling 
now ; we shall soon be safe.” 

The next piece of ground was, as the Englishman 
said, harder, and, despite the incline, the horses took 
advantage of firmer foothold to break into a gallop, 
and the painter thought his difficulties ended. It 
appeared that the driver did not, for, rising sharply to 
his feet, he began wildly to tug at the reins, shouting 
and gesticulating like a maniac, but all to no purpose ; 
the leaders had their bits between their teeth, and were 
past control. The yemstchik sat down helplessly. 

“We are lost,” he murmured. 

The leaders, as he spoke, started and sprang wide 
of each other; both stumbled, and one uttered a 
scream ; then both together, with a desperate lunge, 
dragged their feet from the swamp, and, with another 
forward spring, entangled themselves in it again, more 
hopelessly than before. All this only served to aggra¬ 
vate the terror of the wheelers, and both began to rear 
and kick, plunging the tarantass and themselves 
246 


A HORRIBLE PROSPECT 


further and further in the mire before anyone could 
dismount. 

A few more strugghng, futile wrenches on the traces ; 
then the four animals gave up the attempt, and stood 
champing their bits and snorting, or snapping like 
dogs at each other in their fear, while the wheels 
remained immovable. 

“We must get down and push,” said Atkinson, 
rousing his servant, for the yemstchik seemed to have 
taken leave of his wits. The servant sprang out of 
the vehicle, but ere he could touch a wheel the swamp 
had him by the feet, and his efforts to move were 
vain. 

“ Wait; I’ll give you a hand,” said the Englishman, 
standing up and leaning over the side of the tarantass. 
As he did so the wheel under him began to sink in an 
ominous and horribly suggestive manner, and, on 
glancing towards the horses, he knew at once that 
very gradually they were being sucked downwards by 
the bog. With the disagreeable consciousness that he 
was contributing in no small degree to the submerging 
of the carriage, he pulled with all his force at the 
frightened man, and at last helped him back into the 
tarantass. 

Taking his gun, he prodded with the butt in all direc¬ 
tions as far as he could reach, hoping to find a few inches 
of hard ground ; but each new place he tried seemed to 
be more sloppy and treacherous than the last, and he 
threw down the gun in despair. A cold sweat bedewed 
his face and brow ; the prospect was too sickening to be 
dwelt upon; they were being drawn under by inches, 
247 


HELP IN SIGHT 


and in less than an hour all would be completely en¬ 
gulfed. Never had lights looked so tempting and 
exasperating as those ahead; and surely never had a 
Siberian penal settlement seemed such an abode to 
be longed for. 

Atkinson threw another glance over the side of the 
carriage, and looked away again with a shudder ; in 
another minute the one axle-box which was not already 
hidden would be covered. 

“ Shout!” he said sharply. “ All together !” 

As he spoke, either a lantern or a will-o’-the-wisp 
flickered away to the right. After one united and 
strenuous cry, the three men held their breath and 
listened, but not so much as an echo came in reply ; 
and the silence was only broken by the shuddering of 
the horses and the dead flick of the huge raindrops on 
the watery surface of the slough. 

“ Again!” urged the Englishman; and even the 
horses added a mournful neighing to the frantic cry 
for help that arose. 

The driver leant forward just as Atkinson was loading 
his gun to give the alarm, and, addressing the horse 
immediately in front of him as if it were a human 
being, said : 

“ Silence ! I hear something.” 

It was true. From where they had first seen the 
light there came the jingle, half muffled by the heavi¬ 
ness of the atmosphere, of harness bells, and where one 
lantern had gleamed there were now four. At last the 
sounds came so near that, in the intervals of his shouts, 
Atkinson could hear men on foot giving warnings to 
248 


OUT OF THE MIRE 


the driver of the approaching tarantass. Then the 
lanterns moved nearer the swamp, and a voice cried : 

“ Show a Hght! we are going to throw some 
ropes.” 

With difficulty a candle-end was lit, and from it the 
artist ignited a hastily-improvised torch of news¬ 
paper, and soon four rope-ends fell within the carriage. 
The yemstchik crawled along the back of the nearest 
horse, leapt from there to one of the leaders, and fixed 
a rope halterwise to both, while Atkinson attached the 
other two cords to the body of the carriage. Half an 
hour’s steady pulhng on the part of four men and the 
team of the other tarantass landed the party in safety, 
and soon all three were housed with the governor of 
the settlement, to whom the artist had letters of intro¬ 
duction. 

To the storm a short spell of fine weather succeeded, 
and for the next few days the steppe-journey became 
pleasant and invigorating. During this period a great 
eagle one day, after hovering for some time over the 
heads of the horses, suddenly swooped, as though it saw 
its quarry some way in the rear of the tarantass. Atkin¬ 
son ordered the driver to stop ; this was too rare a 
chance to be missed. With careful aim he fired and the 
eagle dropped, fifty yards behind. The artist hurried 
off to seize his prize; but the bird had dropped 
lightly, not with the thud of a dead thing, and it no 
sooner touched the ground than it made off on foot 
across the desert with incredible speed. Not till he 
had run a good two hundred yards did the sportsman 
come up with it, and as he did so it suddenly turned 
249 


STRUGGLE WITH AN EAGLE 


and faced its pursuer, who, unmindful of his risk, ran 
straight at it. 

Instantly the eagle fell on its back, and, with beak 
open and claws spread, prepared to fight for its life. 
Atkinson had his gun with him, but already serious 
damage had been done to the plumage, for the shots 
had broken one wing ; also it is poor sport to shoot at 
a recumbent and wounded enemy. But the great yellow 
feet were held out, and looked terribly threatening. 
The bird was a yard long from beak to tail, and its 
unwounded wing—measuring quite seven feet at full 
extent—lay stretched out and ready to smite. To 
capture or slay it without further damage was a 
problem, and one which there was little time to think 
over ; for the hunter had never studied eagles and their 
ways, and expected to see the creature spring up at 
him at any moment. 

Holding his gun by the barrels, he endeavoured to 
press the two feet down on the breast, but one leg 
wrenched itself free directly, and the claws dug a way 
for themselves in the hard-wood stock with an ease that 
made the man shiver, while the beak struck at the air 
a blow that would have stunned him. Still holding the 
second foot captive, the sportsman stooped, caught 
the freed leg in his fingers, dragged it sideways to its 
fellow, and got firm hold of both with one hand, and 
with the other seized the neck. But as he had only 
two hands, what was to be done with the wing ? 
Before he could decide how best to guard against it 
without breaking it, it fiapped upwards and caught him 
a violent blow on the side of the head. 

250 


TERROR OF THE HORSES 


A contemporary of Atkinson’s describes him as 
“ tall, thin, lithe, and sinewy, with a wrist like a rock 
and he who would do battle with an eagle has need of 
all these excellent physical qualities. To strangle it 
with one hand was not possible, spite of the stony 
nature of the painter’s wrist; and he was now at such 
close quarters that he was as much a prisoner as the 
bird, for if he did but let go to take breath or to better 
his hold he would be at its mercy ; and meanwhile the 
lashing from the wing was becoming intolerable. His 
only course was to shout for help, and to hold on 
determinedly till it came ; he did both, and with the 
help of his servant the beautiful bird was at last put 
out of its misery. 

This was the last of the rainless spell, and the very 
next day, after some hours of cloudy weather, a 
few heavy drops fell, and the sky grew dark with 
storm-clouds. As the yemstchik knew of a village 
about three miles away, little heed was taken till all 
at once the horses shied, and, springing in all directions, 
narrowly missed overturning the tarantass. 

“What is it?” asked Atkinson; but neither man 
could answer the question. 

The rain dwindled to a feeble trickle and stopped, 
but a gust of wind shot across the desert as though it 
would sweep the carriage along with it, and to this 
succeeded an interval of complete and unnatural calm. 
The horses’ terror did not diminish ; they plunged, 
kicked, and reared, and bade fair to get beyond control, 
and the three men, profoundly mystified, again asked 
blankly of each other : “ What is it ?” 

251 


A STORM 


“ Look ! look !” cried the driver, pointing all of a 
sudden to the near side. Columns of vapour, almost 
spiral in form, and gently moving round and round, 
hung from earth to sky, like mist rising from a swamp 
on a hot day. Just then a low rumble arose, seeming 
first to come from underground, then from across the 
plain, rising to a roar as it rolled behind the tarantass ; 
and only the added efforts of the servant kept the 
horses from headlong flight. 

The next moment a wind like a palpable, tangible 
mass seemed to rise from the surface of the plain, shoot¬ 
ing across in the direction of the vapour clouds, and 
scattering them; and the men in the carriage instinc¬ 
tively clutched at the sides of the carriage as if it were 
a ship in a gale. The blast died away, and for the 
second time all in the travellers’ immediate vicinity 
was still. But where the vapours had hung, bits of 
dead grass and twig began to spin round and round 
in the air, and, as the wind gathered force, first grass 
and then whole bushes were torn up by the roots and 
whisked in circular motion through space with a 
rapidity that was terrorizing. 

The driver breathed more freely, and muttered : 

“ We were well out of that.” 

“ That ” was a whirlwind, and, happily for the 
travellers, the carriage had but touched the fringe of it. 

Before the horses were sufficiently calmed to proceed 
at a rational pace a new incident occurred to startle 
them afresh. Mr. Atkinson’s account is as follows ; 

“We were going over some very rough ground when 
a terrific stream of lightning and a tremendous crash 
252 


A WHIRLWIND 


of thunder burst over us. At the same moment the 
clouds divided and rolled off in opposite directions. 
It was like opening the curtains to some mighty and 
fearful scene, as the heavy dark masses were carried 
up and off at either side, leaving a thin vapour between 
them hanging like a veil. The sun was setting, casting 
a pale red tinge on the vapoury curtain, which pro¬ 
duced a wonderful effect. The hills were now seen 
much magnified, and resembling mountains glowing 
with fire—not bright, but like red-hot metals losing 
their white heat and changing into a dark red. 

“ The vapour gradually rolled off and separated. 
At length a dull red tinge spread over all the under 
parts of the clouds, extending high up into the heavens, 
giving the entire scene a supernatural appearance. 
The sun was now sinking fast. Gradually the clouds 
lost their colours, and in a short time all had passed 
away, leaving me bewildered and fascinated by the 
grandeur and sublimity of the fleeting vision. This 
was a scene never to be forgotten—one my pencil could 
not paint or my pen describe. I only profess to be 
able to shadow it forth dimly.” 

Looking towards the village which they were ap¬ 
proaching, Atkinson found that it was enveloped in a 
dense cloud-mass, and undoubtedly rain was falling 
heavily there, yet not a drop touched the occupants 
of the tarantass till, within half a mile of the huts, they 
drove into what seemed a perpendicular sheet of water. 

After a short stay among the Altai Mountains with 
the overseer of a “priesk,” or gold-mine, Atkinson 
sent back the tarantass, bought a couple of horses, and 
253 


THE GOBI DESERT 


engaged two Cossacks for the journey towards the 
Chinese territory and the desert of Gobi. His host 
warned him to go no further, for fear of the Kirghiz 
brigands, who made it their business to He in wait for 
the traveller in those parts; but the Englishman was 
not to be dissuaded, and cheerfully set out on the 
next stage of his wanderings. 

One evening they came to a camp of horse-breeding 
Kirghiz, who, when they understood from the Cossacks 
that the stranger was devoid of ill intent, made him 
welcome, and offered him sleeping accommodation in 
the chief’s hut. Atkinson found these desert-folk 
simple and unsophisticated as children ; delighted when 
he showed them his gun and the working of it, and 
almost ready to grovel when he displayed his skill 
with his paint-brushes. 

The old chief, Mohammed, was an intelHgent old 
fellow, who asked many questions ; and, when his guest 
produced a spirit-flask and gave him a small cupful of 
rum, his gratitude was boundless, and he demanded a 
second helping, which the traveller gave more sparingly. 

Mohammed had never tasted rum before, and thought 
it a distinct improvement on koumiss,* which is the 
vin du pays, and waxed clamorous in his appeals for 
more. That way lay danger, as Atkinson was aware, 
and he hit upon a plan for nipping in the bud the old 
man’s dawning fancy for foreign spirits. He poured 
a Httle rum into the metal cup, and, while Mohammed’s 
back was turned for a moment, ignited it, then held 
it out to his host. The bluish flame curled upwards 
* This liquid is defined in Chapter VIII. 

254 


THE NIGHT ALARM 


in weird, fantastic form, and at sight of it the old man 
started back in astonishment blended with horror; 
and, trembling in every limb, asked the Cossacks in 
an awed whisper what manner of man this might be, 
and whether he was in league with Shaitan, the 
Mohammedan devil. Nothing would induce him to 
touch any more of the spirit, though his guest asked him 
several times in order to test the value of the lesson 
he had bestowed. 

When bedtime came, the visitor was shown to a small 
inner chamber, and his guards were offered a mattress 
in another hut. At midnight he was waked by a 
roaring and tumult which he took to be an earthquake, 
till he discovered it to be a stampede of many horses. 
The entire camp resounded with cries of alarm. 
Atkinson seized his gun, and hurried outside almost 
into the arms of Mohammed, who was wringing his 
hands and crying out that the place was beset by a 
robber-gang. By the fierce glare of torches with 
which every corner was soon lighted up, a large body 
of mounted men was seen trpng to force the outer 
defences, and the Kirghiz, nothing daunted, were 
mounting on horseback or arming themselves with 
their axes and spears. The appearance of Atkinson 
and his Cossacks was received with shouts of joy, for 
their new-fangled arms gave them distinction, and 
constituted them a tower of defence. 

The robbers, moreover, were not prepared for a 
powder-and-buUet reception, and, when their first 
dismay at the reports of the three guns had become 
absolute panic at the sight of one or two of their 
255 


THE CHASE 


number dropping from their saddles, they turned tail 
and fled in a body. 

“ After them !” was the general cry, for the thieves, 
though foiled in other directions, had driven before 
them or taken with them a herd of a hundred horses. 
Then arose a long and wild chase across rock and 
swamp and hillock, lasting till dawn, and to no purpose; 
for, when the robbers suddenly stopped and faced 
about, it was a" sure sign that they had a powerful 
reinforcement at their back. If the Kirghiz engaged 
and came forth from the battle uninjured there was still 
reasonable probability of finding that another detach¬ 
ment had swooped down on the camp in the absence of 
the defenders, killing the old men and carrying off the 
women; and very regretfully the pursuit had to be 
abandoned. 

On his return journey Mr. Atkinson met with another 
and more unusual adventure among the Kirghiz folk. 
While he and his Cossacks were crossing one of the 
“ poor steppes ” a dozen men, well mounted, and 
carrying axes and spears, came suddenly into view. 

“ Robbers !” muttered one of the Cossacks; and 
the Englishman began to set his wits to work to evolve 
a scheme by which three men could best subdue a 
dozen. The Kirghiz robbers, he knew, seldom kill 
except when, in great numbers, they attack a camp 
or village, but generally content themselves with 
stripping the traveller of all his belongings, including 
his horse. The Cossacks, accustomed to meeting with 
brigands, took their advent as a matter of course, 
unslung their lances, saw to the loading of their 
256 


ATKINSON IN A NEW ROLE 


carbines, and continued their ride towards the horse¬ 
men, who, as the distance lessened, slackened their 
speed to a walk, and seemed to be discussing their 
method of assault. 

Atkinson’s sojourn in the Egyptian desert had 
familiarized him with robber alarms both real and 
false, and, like the Cossacks, he experienced no undue 
qualms at sight of an enemy; but, outnumbered as he 
was, he was determined to run no idle risks. He 
called a halt, and waited to see what time would bring 
forth ; and at the same moment the Kirghiz also pulled 
up, leaving a space of forty yards between the two 
forces. 

After five minutes’ waiting in silence Atkinson lost 
patience, and moved forward again. Straightway a 
cry arose from the twelve men, and two of their 
number galloped forward to meet the trio. At sight 
of the levelled lances and of the Englishman’s pistol 
they stopped again, and threw up their hands, and one 
of them began a hurried address which Atkinson did 
not understand. At his words the Cossacks stared, 
gaped, grinned, and at last burst into incontroUable 
laughter. 

“ What’s happening ? What do they say ?” asked 
the painter, mystified. 

Choking down his amusement as well as he could, 
one of the Cossacks managed to blurt out: 

“ They are Kirghiz traders, and wish to compound 
with us. They think ”—again the man shook with 
laughing—“ they think that your Excellency and our¬ 
selves are robbers !” 


257 


R 


CHAPTER XIX 


A RIDE TO BAALBEC 

Rear*x4d.miral Allen—A new route to India—Allen’s scheme— 
Beyrout—The Zahle Pass—Order and disorder of the march 
—Panic !—Facing the inevitable—The bloodless battle—The 
Bashi-Bazouks—Towards Baalbec—The voice from the depths 
of the ruin—Awful predicament of Louis Calmeyn—The Dead 
Sea—Deacon’s narrow escape—A mirage ?—The clergyman’s 
obstinacy—A real oasis—A civihzed Arab—Desert hospitaUty 
and the cost thereof. 

The name of the late Rear-Admiral William Allen is 
perhaps better remembered in connection with Captain 
Trotter’s disastrous Niger Expedition of 1842 than as 
that of a wanderer in the S 3 rrian deserts. Yet, if the 
plans which formed the object of his travels in Asia 
Minor had been carried out, he would have been known 
to posterity as the promoter of a new route to India. 
Twenty years before the completion of the Suez Canal 
he had thought out a scheme vastly better, in his 
opinion, than the great design subsequently achieved 
by M. de Lesseps. 

The greater part of the Jordan Valley and the whole 
of the Dead Sea, it will be remembered, lie considerably 
below the Mediterranean, and Allen thought that this 
258 


THE ZAHLE PASS 


geographical feature might be turned to economical 
account; in short, that by connecting the rough chain 
of waterways from Beyrout to the eastern horn of the 
Red Sea (the Gulf of Akabah) communication between 
the latter and the Mediterranean would be established 
at the cheapest possible rate. 

When he had satisfactorily constructed his canal on 
paper, the Captain (as he then was) undertook, in com¬ 
pany with his nephew, the Rev. C. Deacon, a private 
surveying expedition to Asia Minor for the maturing 
of his plans. Landing at Beyrout, and for a while 
allowing engineering experiments to wait on anti¬ 
quarian research, the two started for Baalbec by way 
of Lebanon and the narrow Zahle Pass, accompanied 
by two Belgian acquaintances, Louis and Pierre 
Calmeyn. 

At sight of the steep and rocky pass overhung by 
masses of granite, and spurred on either side with small, 
blind by-paths, convenient hiding-places for robbers, 
the Arabs in charge of the pack-mules refused to 
venture further. There were two men in the suite 
who might be regarded as moderately trustworthy— 
the Greek cook and Michele the dragoman, or chief 
guide and interpreter. 

With the help of the latter, and a distribution of 
small coin and threats, the refractory servants were at 
length persuaded to risk the pass perilous, and in order 
that there might be no attempt at flight at an in¬ 
opportune moment, Allen arranged the cavalcade in 
special order. In front rode the Greek, followed by 
Mr. Deacon and the two Calmeyns, then the servants 
259 R 2 


PANIC! 


with the mules ; and, lastly, Allen and Michele as rear¬ 
guard. 

By this means the defile was traversed without event 
or hindrance. But just as the front of the column had 
almost entered upon the expanse of desert beyond, the 
Greek, with a loud cry, pulled up his horse, and, turning 
sharply, nearly upset the three travellers behind him. 
The Belgians thereupon broke out into cries and 
exclamations of excitement, and stopped short, causing 
their companion to do the same. The servants wanted 
no better signal to start them off in a chorus of howls, 
and in less than a minute the direst confusion reigned— 
mules kicking at being suddenly backed or turned, 
horses shying and losing their footing, Arabs hastily 
dismounting and endeavouring to push their way past 
the two horsemen in the rear. 

The panic had arisen so unexpectedly that Deacon 
could not at first comprehend the cause, for the evolu¬ 
tions and gyrations of the terrified Greek cut off his 
view of all that lay beyond; and when he at last suc¬ 
ceeded in getting momentary sight of the disturbing 
element, his bridle was seized by one of his Belgian 
friends, and his horse jerked round on its haunches. 

Certainly the cause of alarm was formidable enough, 
for it w^as represented by a hundred mounted and 
armed Arabs just drawing to a halt at the mouth of the 
pass, and waiting for the caravan to come up. 

The clergyman was in a dilemma. He was too 
inexperienced in the art and practice of meeting the 
enemy to be able to give command or advice to his 
followers, and to confer with the Captain he would 
260 


FACING THE INEVITABLE 


be obliged to ride back past the struggling mules and 
servants, which would appear suspiciously like flight 
or showing the white feather; and to hope to make 
his voice heard by those behind, above the intervening 
babel of tongues, was out of all reason. 

Resisting the hand that tugged at his bridle, he freed 
himself, and again pulled round with his face set 
towards the new arrivals, whose reckless laughter and 
fierce, repulsive expression would have disturbed the 
equanimity of even a seasoned veteran. He had taken 
the precaution to provide himself with a revolver, and 
was drawing it out from his saddle-bag, when the 
voice of his uncle near at hand helped to reassure 
him, and to relieve him of responsibility. The Captain 
had posted Michele in the centre of the path that he 
might, in some sort, keep the scattering flock together, 
and was himself edging his way through the press to 
inquire into the reason for the stoppage, of which he 
was hitherto ignorant. 

At sight of the troop in front Captain Allen gave a 
prolonged whistle. With a dozen soldiers or sailors 
at his back he would willingly have led a charge; but 
of all his force Michele was probably the only man who 
had ever been under fire, and the only one who would 
not either run away or yell for mercy at the most 
critical time. Herein he was unjust in thought to 
the Belgians, for their first fears had subsided in shame 
at being so easily panic-stricken, and they were already 
drawing abreast of the leader. 

Allen cast a hurried glance on all sides. So far as he 
could see, the servants were either climbing the more 
261 


THE BLOODINESS BATTLE 


accessible of the hills, huddling together behind the 
mules, or trying unsuccessfully to dodge past the 
inexorable Michele; while ahead the foe sat calmly 
laughing at the dismay and confusion which their 
advent had brought about. 

“ We may as well go on,” muttered the Captain 
gloomily. As he spoke, shouts arose from the men in 
front, accompanied by gestures, angry, threatening, 
scornful, or jeering, but the words were meaningless to 
the Europeans, and Michele was not near enough to be 
able to interpret. 

All at once, with a jingle and a clatter, an Arab, 
lance in hand, detached himself from the main body, 
and spurred towards them. One of the Calmeyns 
cocked his pistol, but Allen stayed his hand. 

“You may live to want that cartridge,” he said. 
“ Wait.” 

Within a few yards the Arab stopped, and asked 
smilingly : 

“ Does any of you gentlemen understand French ?” 
—himself using that language. 

Four heads nodded affirmatively. 

“ So much the better. I came to say that my com¬ 
rades are in a hurry to enter the pass, and that you 
are blocking the way.” 

“Who are you, then?” inquired the clergyman, 
thunderstruck at being addressed civilly. 

“ We are Bashi-Bazouks, monsieur, returning from 
the pursuit of a robber gang; and permit me to say 
that we ought to be back at Be 3 rrout by this time.” 

Ashamed and uncomfortable, the four Europeans 
262 


TOWARDS BAALBEC 


followed the man out of the pass, shouting to Michele 
to drive the servants forward. They had allowed 
themselves to be scared by a company of very harmless 
and very useful military police, who were responsible 
for maintaining order in that district. With profuse 
apologies and the offer of “ backsheesh,” which was 
not refused, the travellers took leave of the Bashi- 
Bazouks, and, collecting their men and beasts, rode 
forward towards Baalbec. 

Within a few miles of this celebrated spot they 
halted for the night, encamping outside the walls of 
an isolated temple, which after supper they proceeded 
to explore by moonlight. On either side of the 
entrance was a flight of steps leading to the remains 
of an upper story, and while the two Belgians 
examined the lower part of the ruin the Englishmen 
climbed to the top. 

The researches of the latter were brought to an 
abrupt conclusion by loud cries from below—cries that 
appeared to issue from the bowels of the earth. They 
dashed down the steps and into the enclosure, but 
could see no one, and though the cries for help did 
not abate, the voices sounded scarcely nearer than 
before. 

Uncomfortably convinced that some masonry must 
have fallen and buried their friends. Deacon lit a 
lantern, and began a hurried search. 

“He, mon Capitaine !” he heard, and the words 
came from the other side of the wall by which the 
bewildered pair stood ; but, when they rushed outside, 
the sounds were less audible, nor was there any entry 
263 


AN AWFUL PREDICAMENT 


from that side. They returned to the spot where the 
shouts were clearest, and called out in answer. Sud¬ 
denly, quite near their feet, they heard in very muffled 
tones the voice of Louis Calmeyn. 

“ Oh, je meurs ! On etouffle ici!” and at the same 
time there was a rustUng just above the ground. 

Throwing the Hght downwards the seekers were 
amazed to see a pair of human legs at right angles with 
the wall, and on closer inspection they discovered that 
their Flemish friend was stuck fast in a hole or window. 

Now, Louis was enormously stout, and from the fact 
that his head, arms, shoulders, and waist were invisible 
it was painfully apparent that he had crawled through 
the aperture till he could crawl no further, yet had 
gone too far to draw back. 

“ You take one leg, and I’ll take the other,” said 
Allen, when he could speak for laughing, and after a 
lengthy struggle the unfortunate man was set at 
liberty. He was followed immediately by his brother, 
who, after springing through the opening, lay rolling on 
the floor, shrieking and convulsed with laughter. 

At last he was able to explain matters. Spying 
about them they had come across this opening, which 
on inspection proved to lead into a small inner chamber. 
Pierre, being of moderate girth, had without difficulty 
crept through, but the fat man, after getting half-way, 
had asked for assistance, and on being drawn forward 
a few inches had suddenly stuck fast like a cork in a 
bottle. 

When he had indulged his nephew’s passion for ruins 
and inscriptions, the Captain, returning to business, 
264 



An Awkward Predicament 

Louis, who was enormously stout, had crawled as far as he could through an aperture, 
and then stuck fast. From the inside he was pulled further in, only to become more 
firmly li.xed. By taking hold of one leg each, his two comrades outside, howeTcr, 
succeeded in releasing him. 

















DEACON’S NARROW ESCAPE 


led his party southwards to the Lower Jordan, and 
onward to the Dead Sea, which they found as dreary 
and desolate as its name suggests. Bathing in its 
waters, they discovered them to be so buoyant that 
to sink therein seemed an impossibility. They also 
saw something of the “ dense volumes of smoke ” 
which earher and more superstitious travellers were 
wont to report as one of the special features of the 
“Asphaltites Lake,” and which are, in reahty, mist- 
clouds arising from the activity of evaporation due 
to the position of the sea so far below the level of the 
ocean. 

On the return northwards Deacon had a narrow 
escape ; for, in fording the Jordan, his horse shied and 
threw him, and he fell with one foot caught in his 
stirrup, from which he was with difficulty disengaged 
by Pierre Calmeyn’s cutting the stirrup-leather. 

Beyond the river there seemed to be nothing but 
bare rock and sand till the more fertile strip east of 
the Sea of Tiberias was reached, and this gave place 
all too soon to bewildering sand-tracts, in which path, 
well, or stream was sought for in vain. 

But as they came nearer the hill district they saw, 
towards evening, a considerable stretch of grass, and 
beyond it the huts and houses of a hamlet—a welcome 
sight to wayworn men. Within a couple of miles of it, 
however, the dragoman stopped. 

“ There is no village that way,” he said. “ It is a 
mirage. Our way lies further to the left over those 
hills; ” and he wheeled in the direction which he 
indicated. 


265 


THE CLERGYMAN’S OBSTINACY 


Mr. Deacon had never seen a mirage, and could 
not believe that those tempting palm-trees and inviting 
grass-mounds were but cloud-pictures; and he still 
looked wistfully at them, unconvinced. 

“ What is your opinion he asked of the Captain. 

“ I’ve been deceived too often, thank you,” was 
the reply. “I’ll take Michele’s word.” 

The clergyman looked again, and at length turned his 
horse’s head. 

“I’m going to see for myself,” he said obstinately, 
and, heedless of persuasion, started to the right. 

“ I had better go with him ; we shall soon catch you 
up,” said Allen, when he and his companions had 
ridden a few yards, and he rode after his nephew. 

They were already apparently within a few hundred 
yards of the village, and the Captain was in the midst 
of a dissertation on optical illusions, when the scene 
became animated by the appearance of men and 
women, and in the distance could be heard a sound 
that no mirage can imitate—the unmistakeable bleat- 
bleat of sheep. 

“ Who is right now asked Deacon triumphantly, 
as the ground underfoot began to show specks of living 
green. 

The Captain rubbed his eyes, and then looked back 
after their caravan, which was now lost in the twilight. 

“ We’ve got the substance, after all,” he said, “ and 
Michele the shadow ; ” and in a few minutes more the 
horses stopped of their own accord under the date- 
palms and limes, and the strangers were immediately 
encompassed and stared at inquisitively by the 
266 


A CIVILIZED ARAB 


villagers. While they were endeavouring by signs to 
express their need of supper and a night’s lodging an 
old sheik, smoking a pipe nearly as long as himself, 
came up, politely pointed to a large house some 
distance away, and entered upon what seemed to be 
a catalogue of its merits and attractions. They were 
busily engaged in conveying to him their ignorance of 
his language, when a voice behind addressed them in 
excellent French. Looking round, they beheld a young 
Arab, whose costume was a strange mixture of native 
and European. On being answered, he told the new¬ 
comers that the house belonged to the old sheik, his 
father. 

“ Nay,” he corrected himself, and bowed in a 
courtly manner ; “ it no longer belongs to us ; it is 
yours, and all in it, and we are your very humble 
servants.” 

The old man by gesture joined his invitations to 
those of his son, and the Englishmen, weary and 
famished, gladly allowed themselves to be led towards 
the house. On the way thither the young man 
explained that his was an old Christian family, and 
that he had been educated at a monastic school in Paris. 

“ Ask for nothing,” he reiterated warmly. “ Take 
it; it is yours from the moment you wish for it.” 

Giving the horses into the keeping of an Arab groom, 
he conducted his guests into a large and somewhat 
tawdrily furnished saloon, where the ladies of the 
family, unveiled, sat at their needlework. 

“You must be hungry,” he said when he had 
introduced them. This was more than true; they 
267 


DESERT HOSPITALITY 


were ravenous, and turned almost wolfishly on the 
attendants who entered with refreshments—to find that 
these consisted only of sherbet, coffee, and long pipes. 

They extracted what comfort they could from these, 
and waited patiently for a couple of hours for some¬ 
thing more substantial to make its appearance, trying 
hard to answer—their young host interpreting—the 
flood of questions that proceeded from the family 
generally. When the looked-for meal arrived it proved 
to be raw vegetables, sweetmeats and fruit, in by no 
means large quantities; and once more the hunger- 
stricken men attempted to stave off their pangs with 
the unappetizing dishes, while with heads nodding with 
sleep they strove to appear polite and edified. But 
how they longed for the comfort of their own tent and a 
substantial meal of mutton or goat’s flesh ! 

The repast ended, more conversation and a little 
music followed, none of their entertainers showing the 
least sign of wishing to go to bed. Finally, when in 
despair Allen was trying to And courage to plead for 
a bed and a hunch of bread and cheese, the door was 
flung wide, and trays, laden with meat, vegetables 
cooked and raw, with bread and fruit, were brought in. 
Even sleep could be temporarily banished in face of 
these dainties, and the Englishmen did full justice to 
their late meal, after which they were shown to their 
sleeping apartments, which were neither large nor 
pleasant. 

In the morning the sheik’s son called them, and 
conducted them to the saloon, where a breakfast of 
fruit, milk, and bread awaited them. When they had 
268 


THE COST THEREOF 


eaten, the Captain spoke of departing, but the host and 
his son expressed astonishment and pain at his resolu¬ 
tion, and spent half an hour in assigning reasons why 
the strangers should make a stay of some days. Seeing 
them inflexible, the father went to order the horses, 
and the son, after some circumlocution, murmured the 
mystic word “ backsheesh.” 

This the Englishmen took as a hint that the servants 
would expect a douceur, and taking out their purses 
they bestowed handsome gratuities on the two atten¬ 
dants who were present. But the money had no 
sooner changed hands than a fierce struggle began 
between the young sheik and the domestics, he to 
seize, and they to keep, the travellers’ gift. Just then 
the old man re-entered, and seeing how matters stood, 
echoed the cry of “ backsheesh.” 

This was embarrassing, especially after the guests 
had been told that the house and its appurtenances 
were theirs. Just then, too, other members of the 
family and other servants entered, and one and all 
echoed the magic word. 

After the guests had distributed about as much 
money as would have paid a London or Paris hotel bill, 
they sought to take leave. But now the old sheik 
seized the Captain’s gun, and the young one Deacon’s 
revolver, and became so pressing in their entreaties 
for the weapons as keepsakes, that the property was 
only restored after a little exercise of physical force, and 
then the travellers fled, anxious to escape before they 
were pestered for the clothes off their backs or the skin 
off their bones. 


269 


THE DEPARTURE 


“ Au revoir, messieurs,” cried the polite young 
Arab as they mounted into their saddles. 

“ Which will be never with my goodwill,” muttered 
Allen. “ I prefer adieu.” 

And putting their horses at the gallop, they rode in 
search of their friends, whom they found encamped 
at the foot of the nearest hill. 


CHAPTER XX 


IN THE DESERT^OF^SAHARA 

iLk 

Richardson, Barth, and Overweg—Region covered by the expe¬ 
dition—Barth’s search for the “ enchanted mountain ”—Bad 
desert diet—The Valley of the Shadow of Death—Alone in 
the desert of Fezzan—Rays of hope—Despair and delirium— 
Dying of thirst—The watch-fire—Still no hope—The cry of the 
camel—The Moor—The rescue—The oasis of Ghat—The 
desert tribes—Terrible situation of the explorers—Robbed— 
Separation—Death of Richardson and Overweg. 

Although Germany can scarcely lay claim to the 
important position in the history of exploration 
occupied by Spain, England, Portugal, and France, yet 
the names of Lichtenstein, Vogel, and Barth loom 
large in the catalogue of heroes who have risked their 
lives in the cause of geographical research. Of these 
the last-named is, perhaps, the best known to English 
readers, owing to his connection with an expedition to 
Central Africa sent by our own Government. 

In the year 1849 Lord Palmerston authorized James 
Richardson, an experienced traveller, to proceed to 
the heart of the Dark Continent with a view to inquiry 
into the African slave traffic, and the possibility of 
putting an end to it, and permission was given to 
271 


REGION TRAVERSED 


Dr. Overweg and Heinrich Barth, two young German 
university professors, to attach themselves to the 
expedition. 

Barth, though scarcely nine-and-twenty, had already 
made for himself some considerable reputation as a 
traveller, having visited Egypt, and crossed Asia Minor 
and “ Arabia Deserta,” where he had been plundered 
and left for dead by Bedawin robbers. 

The area over which his new researches were destined 
to extend stretched from Tripoli to Timbuktu and the 
Lower Niger. 

Starting from Tripoli early in 1850 the three adven¬ 
turers began by pursuing a south-westerly course across 
the desert of Fezzan. Well armed though they were, 
the constant attack of brigands and savage villagers 
soon showed them the wisdom of joining themselves 
to a large Sahara caravan bound for the district below 
Ghat. 

Some time before reaching this celebrated oasis an 
incident occurred which went near to terminating 
Barth’s share in the undertaking. During a few days’ 
halt in the desert he set out unaccompanied to visit a 
mountain of peculiar shape, described by the Arabs as 
“ enchanted,” which lay westward of the projected 
route. Leaving camp at daybreak he made his way 
across several miles of pebbly ground gradually rising 
to a barren hill, the first stage of the mountain ascent. 
Having marched for four hours, and still seeming no 
nearer the summit than when he started, he sat down 
to rest and eat. He had brought with him some hard 
biscuits and dates—the worst possible food in the 
272 


THE “ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN” 


desert if water be scarce ; and he found that the effect 
of this diet was to increase his thirst to the extent of 
prompting him to swallow the bulk of his water-supply 
forthwith. 

The heat, excessive even in the earlier hours, was 
now becoming unbearable, nor was there an inch of 
shade within miles. After his attempt at a meal, 
Barth followed his uphill road till it was broken by 
a ravine wherein a herd of antelopes had gathered. 
Again halting, he took a more careful survey of his 
position, and so discovered that the crest of the 
mountain was shaped Hke a horseshoe, and that he 
had been all the while making for the centre of its 
curve; so, changing his direction further east, he en¬ 
deavoured to reach the nearer spur of the crest, and 
might have done so but that his new road broke off 
abruptly in a precipice. 

Fatigue, heat, and that sensation of being cut off 
from the rest of the world, which at times attacks even 
those most inured to solitude, combined to produce a 
fit of depression which the explorer seemed unable to 
master, and which sorely tempted him to abandon his 
project. But another rest, and the consumption of 
his remaining food and drink, gave him heart for 
a further attempt, and he followed the edge of the 
precipice till it modified its form into that of a steep 
incline, leading into a valley which promised some 
refuge from the sun, if he could reach the part shaded 
by the mountain. 

But the descent occupied longer time than he had 
anticipated, and when he reached the bottom he was 
273 s 


ALONE IN THE DESERT 


fain to admit that the task of ascending the mountain 
would be beyond him. In fact, when he had wandered 
a httle about the valley he was convinced that his 
strength would scarcely hold out long enough to allow 
of his returning to the camp on foot. 

Shuddering at the idea of passing a night in this 
wilderness without food or water, Barth concentrated 
aU his energies in an attempt to regain the ridge, 
whence he could fire his pistols and attract the attention 
of the camp. But if the downward cHmb had been 
arduous the reascent was trebly so, and by the time 
he had attained the point where he had first come upon 
the precipice, he was too breathless to stir another step. 
Confident of making himself heard, he fired off a pistol, 
then another, anxiously hstening for an answering 
report, but none came other than the echo from the 
hiUs. 

A further rest of about an hour enabled him to reach 
what he beheved to be the sand-mounds which he 
had crossed earfier in the day, but which proved an 
entirely different group, lying considerably out of the 
direct line of return. From there he fired several more 
shots, with no more hopeful result than had attended 
his previous ones. Further east still, a fine of 
trees enticed him with promises of shade; but when 
he had crawled rather than walked thither, he failed to 
find one tree capable of affording him the smallest 
protection from the bhnding afternoon sun. 

FaUing on’'his face, he lay stretched upon the fiery 
sand, staring leaden-eyed across the blank, weary 
miles of desert—the only'hope remaining to him that 
274 


RAYS OF HOPE 


of hailing some caravan which might come into view. 
Oh, for a drop of drink, were it even from a puddle or 
fever-haunted swamp ! His head seemed bursting, his 
tongue a Hve coal, and his bhstered hps and throat 
strove in vain to utter the agonized cry for help that 
rose to them. 

Brooding, he fell into a half-doze, out of which he 
was disturbed by the acute pain caused by the fine 
sand making its way into the cracks in his Hps. Lest 
by fa lling asleep he might miss the chance of signalling 
to stray comers, he had begun to struggle into a sitting 
posture, when the pitiless regularity of the far horizon 
was broken by a dark object that appeared to move 
and, in moving, to grow larger. An irregular fine at 
right angles to that of the horizon was steadily extend¬ 
ing towards the suffering man. Now it darkened, now 
began to assume definite outline, and, as the thrilling 
minutes passed, gradually developed into the form 
of a string of camels. 

Saved ! A choking sob of rehef came to the young 
man’s throat. Whoever the new-comers might be, 
friend or foe, they could not refuse a drop of water to a 
fellow-creature dying of thirst; and he endeavoured to 
creep a step or two to meet them in his mad craving 
to lessen, even by a minute’s space, the interval that 
lay between him and hfe. 

And now came torturing doubt and suspense. 
Suppose the caravan should pass without sighting him ? 
Suppose it should suddenly wheel to right or left ? 
Suppose it should prove only a mirage ? 

With pain and difficulty he unfastened and removed 
275 s 2 


DESPAIR AND DELIRIUM 


his coat, and summoned his strength to wave it as the 
forms grew nearer and more distinct. Now he could 
see the riders bending over their saddles as though in 
conversation—could almost fancy he heard the creak 
of harness and baggage-cord, and the low “ plod-plod ” 
of the camels’ feet. They could not be going to wheel 
or pass him by, for unquestionably they were moving 
straight at him as though they were aware of his 
presence. 

He closed his eyes in fervent thanksgiving, then 
opened them again—on nothing but empty, endless 
sand. Camels and riders had disappeared as com¬ 
pletely as though swallowed up. 

“Ah, God! Let me die—^let me die!” he sobbed 
as he buried his face in his hands. His train of 
camels had been either creatures of his distorted 
imagination or else one of those cruel optical illusions 
known all too well to the desert wanderer. 

For some hours he lay half unconscious, half 
delirious, and when he came to himself the desert was 
in darkness, and the silence was repeatedly broken by 
the roars of wild beasts. Looking aimlessly round him 
he became conscious of the blaze of a watch-fire about 
a mile away. The sight nerved him for an effort at 
loading and firing a pistol, but that act robbed him of 
the remnant of his strength, leaving him unable to 
reload; nor could he cry out loudly enough for even 
himself to hear. 

The shot attracted no sort of notice from the watchers 
round the fire, and Barth could only lie tossing in agonv 
and praying for the light; for even death seemed to have 
276 


STILL NO HOPE 


entered into a conspiracy with his other torments to 
keep him unrelieved. 

After several hours of fitful sleep he awoke to find 
the dawn advancing, and himself the merest trifle 
stronger—the last rally, probably, before Nature’s 
final conflict with death. At sunrise he loaded a pistol 
and fired. The report, exaggerated to his over-tense 
nerves, seemed to him loud enough to make even the 
deaf hear ; nevertheless, it failed to reach anyone who 
was disposed to assist him, and once more he fell back 
on his comfortless bed of sand and stones. 

All night he had yearned for the day to come—had 
longed, ached, for a sight of the morning sun; but now 
he already caught himself looking forward to it with 
abject dread and terror, for day and sun meant more 
pitiless hours of torture and thirst. 

Greater and greater waxed the heat, scorching the 
shelterless man, on whose head the leafless tree seemed 
only to reflect the heat. Maddened with thirst, he 
drew his knife, and slashing its edge across his arm, 
began greedily to drink the flowing blood; but presently 
a dull giddiness overcame him, and he knew no more till 
sundown. 

He was roused from his stupor by surely the sweetest 
music that had ever fallen on his ears—the plaintive 
cry of a camel. But his eyes had acted traitor to him 
once, why not his ears ? Too feeble to rise or even 
turn his head, he tried to cry out, and fainted in the 
attempt. 

When he recovered consciousness, it was to find his 
head pillowed on the knee of a young Moor, who alter- 
277 


THE OASIS OF GHAT 

nately moistened the prostrate man’s lips and bathed 
his brow. 

“ Water,” murmured Barth, and some was poured 
down his throat, the skin and nerves of which were so 
dried up that for some moments he was not even 
conscious of drinking. Then a pair of strong arms 
lifted him, still half fainting, on to the camel’s back, 
and his deliverer, one of the caravan scouts sent out 
by Richardson in search of the missing man, was 
soon conducting him back in triumph to his friends, 
who had almost abandoned the hope of seeing him 
alive. 

Moving on by slow degrees the caravan came to 
Ghat, whose fertiHty the travellers were not long to 
enjoy without interruption from the Imghad—a fierce 
and powerful tribe, who threatened them with violence, 
quarrelled with the Tunisian guides, and persistently 
endeavoured to plunder the baggage, so that it was a 
relief to get away from the oasis. 

But the move did not bring immunity from the 
desert tribes, for the caravan only escaped the Imghad 
to fall foul of the Touarek tribe, a strong force of 
whom hung on its skirts or kept pace with it out of 
gun-range. Ignoring these intruders as far as might 
be, the merchants and explorers continued their 
journey till evening, when shots from the Touareks 
warned them that, since they could not escape, it would 
be well to show some resistance. 

Volleys were exchanged, at intervals, the whole night 
through, and at day fight Richardson, who had taken 
upon himself the command of the party, thought it 
278 



Just in Time 


Maddened by thirst, Barth had slashed his arm with his knife, and drunk the blood 
jtreedily. He then fell into a stupor, and awakened to find a young Moor holding some 
precifjus water to his lips. 


















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THE DESERT TRIBES 


probable that a charge might be made. Taking from 
a valise three bayonets, the Europeans proceeded to 
fix these, greatly to the astonishment and dismay of 
the enemy’s vanguard, who tremblingly beheld for the 
first time weapons with which their grandsons were 
doomed to make an even closer and more unpleasant 
acquaintance. Seeing the three strangers thus doubly 
armed against them, the natives called a truce, and 
finally sent a deputation to say that they had no 
animosity against the people of the caravan, and only 
wished to levy tribute. The merchants deemed it 
prudent to accept the compromise offered them, and 
consented to buy ofi the enemy. 

After this all went well till the camp was pitched 
within eight miles of Selufiet, where everyone congratu¬ 
lated himself that no further danger was to be appre¬ 
hended. But the sudden appearance of a fresh desert 
tribe put an end to this feeling of security. Again shots 
were exchanged, and again suggestions as to compro¬ 
mise were made—this time, albeit, with unfortunate 
results to Barth and his companions; for, as soon as 
the parley began, the natives, already with an eye on 
the seemingly lavish and voluminous luggage of the 
explorers, remarked that they could not allow the 
Christian strangers to pass through their territory. 

This was a clever move, for the very name of 
“ Christian ” was sufficient to alienate from the 
explorers all sympathy or desire to help on the 
part of the merchants who were their fellow-travellers. 

A long and wearisome conference ensued. Would 
the strangers abandon their impious superstitions and 
279 


A TERRIBLE SITUATION 


become good Mussulmans ? No; emphatically they 
would not. 

“ Then,” said the native followers of the Prophet, 
“ they must die.” 

“ That will happen to us sooner or later in any 
case,” growled Dr.Overweg,with characteristic German 
phlegm. 

One by one their late friends and brothers-in-arms 
drew off from the trio, some with virtuous horror, some 
half apologetically and with a shade of friendly regret 
that theological differences should have brought 
matters to this pass ; others warning them that their 
blood was on their own heads. 

The three friends stood alone in the shadow of their 
tent; no word was spoken between them, but there 
was a simultaneous movement towards guns and 
pistols that showed their determination not to part 
cheaply with life. 

Richardson’s deep, manly tones broke the silence at 
last. He was growing old, and had stood too often 
on the bridge between life and death to suffer many 
qualms. 

“ Let’s talk, lads,” he said calmly. “ These beggars 
can neither hear nor understand us. If we must die we 
must; but, meanwhile, we may as well discuss some 
plan of escape.” 

It was a moment of extreme tension, for all three 
knew that the Mohammedan enthusiasts were far more 
likely to finish them off by a sudden volley than to 
attempt any close encounter. 

Meanwhile the wagging of tongues and beards con- 
280 


SEPARATION 


tinued among the Bedawin. At length there was a 
lull in the dispute, and one of the more friendly of the 
Arabs came running dehghtedly to the explorer’s tent. 

“ You are spared,” he cried. “ You are not to die.” 

And spared they were, at the cost of immediate 
departure, leaving nearly the whole of their valuables 
and stores in the hands of the tribesmen. 

In due course the Httle expedition arrived at Tagalel, 
where a separation took place, each following a different 
route, with the intention of meeting again at Kukawa 
in the Bornu country. Little did the two Germans 
think as they shook hands with the veteran English 
traveller that it was for the last time. Such, however, 
was the case, for, weeks after, when Barth was making 
towards the meeting-place, he was met by a Moorish 
traveller, who told him that the Christian stranger had 
died of fever at Ngurutuwa. 

This was a heavy blow, for not only was Barth 
deprived of a wise and experienced companion and 
friend, but he was also now saddled with the entire 
responsibility of the expedition. 

He hurried onwards to meet Overweg, and was 
shocked to find that his compatriot was so weak and 
ill that he would be unfit to travel for many days to 
come. When ultimately they were able to start, they 
again entered a district so hostile that they were glad 
to take refuge with a freebooting army, whose fortunes 
they followed for many months. 

At last Overweg was again seized with a fever. For 
weeks Barth nursed him with womanly care and 
attention, but in vain. The young doctor’s constitu- 
281 


DEATH OF OVERWEG 


tion was broken down by bad water and repeated fevers, 
and, after a short rally, followed by delirium, he died, 
and Barth was left to face alone the terrors of desert 
and forest. 

How he fared, how he was stopped by one horde of 
savages, robbed by another, captured and put in irons 
by a third ; how he was forced to take a retail-dealer’s 
stall in a market, how he recovered from various ill¬ 
nesses ; and how, in the heart of the forest, he unex¬ 
pectedly met his great fellow-countryman Vogel, are 
all graphically related by the traveller himself in his 
account of the expedition. 

After having travelled twelve thousand miles he 
arrived safely in Algiers, and came on to England, 
where he was received with enthusiasm by a grateful 
country, which haK a century ago owed much of its 
information as to the geography and configuration of 
Central Africa to his heroic enterprise. 


282 


CHAPTER XXI 

A SLEDGE RIDE IN SIBERIA 

A pleasure-trip round the world—From the Baltic to the Sea of 
Okhotsk by land—The steppe of Baraba—A winter ride 
towards Lake Baikal—A aani —TravelHng companions more 
or less objectionable—The tea-caravan—The Russian courier 
and his methods of persuasion—The right of way—A smooth 
interval—A mad ride, and an overturned sledge—A perilous 
night ride—Thrown over the cUff—Help at hand—Another fall 
—The men with the lantern. 

Though “ a pleasure-trip round the world ” is not 
popularly supposed to include a land voyage from 
one extremity of the Russian Empire to the other— 
from the Gulf of Finland to the Sea of Okhotsk— 
a traveller not long dead, Mr. S. S. Hill, elected to 
adopt that method of crossing Europe and Asia while 
engaged on such a trip. 

To accomphsh such a journey many hundreds of 
miles of steppe had to be traversed, together with the 
hilly desert which is only separated from the greater 
wilderness of the Gobi by the barren Sayansk Moun¬ 
tains. Across this desert, along the very route which 
Mr. Hill followed, the Siberian railway now runs ; but, 
in the fifties, when this daring attempt was made, 
283 


A -SANI 


the only means of transit during the greater part of 
the year was by way of sledge or sani —the latter a 
species of partially closed waggon on runners. 

From the Urals to Tomsk travelling was com¬ 
paratively easy. The worst of the winter had not set 
in, and the track lay for the most part across the 
steppe of Baraba (part of Atkinson’s route), which, 
according to a Russian writer. Dr. Aitoff, is so smooth 
and composed of sand so fine that the inhabitants can 
form no notion of what is meant by a stone. 

But when, after a short residence in Tomsk, the 
traveller wished to proceed to Lake Baikal, he found 
the interlying desert a harsh, broken surface of rock, 
snow—fresh or frozen, and ice, which nothing but the 
most skilfully manipulated sledge could hope to cross. 

Accordingly he took a place in a large sani which was 
going to Krasnoyarsk, half the length of his journey to 
Baikal. His fellow-travellers were Russians—a royal 
courier who sat on the box and abused both driver and 
horses, a drunken man with a wooden leg which con¬ 
stantly strayed from its allotted space to the dis¬ 
comfort of everyone within radius, and sundry other 
people all more or less boorish, quarrelsome, and given 
to vodka. 

The courier was unquestionably a person of impor¬ 
tance, and, as became a servant of the Czar’s house¬ 
hold, an authority on the subject of precedence. This 
became evident soon after the sani, with much straining 
on the part of the horses, began to grope its way along 
a ledge-like road too narrow for one carriage to pass 
another. 


284 


THE RUSSIAN COURIER 


In the distance could be seen three very large sanis 
heavily laden with China tea for the Nijni Novgorod 
fair, and, as the first of these drew near, a deadlock was 
obvious. Both vehicles stopped; the men on the tea- 
sledge alighted, and having examined the ground, sought 
parley with the other driver. The only possible way 
out of the impasse was for one of the sanis to drive 
over the brink of the precipitous ledge on to the mass 
of half-frozen snow below, with the hope of regaining 
the path at some spot higher or lower where the snow 
might rise to the high level again. 

“ Yours is by far the lighter sledge,” hinted the 
Nijni Novgorod men. 

The driver of Hill’s sani turned to his passengers to 
learn their views on the subject, but before assent or 
objection could be expressed, the courier had sprung 
down from the box and drawn his sword. 

“ What ?” he roared. “ A servant of the Emperor’s 
give way to you shop-keeping tallow-chandlers ?” 
And in two or three strides the outraged official was in 
the midst of the tea-men, hacking right and left with 
his blade. 

Little enough resistance was made. One or two men 
hesitatingly felt for sword or pistol, but had no spirit 
to withstand this punctilious bully; and with sore bones 
or gaping wounds, one after another leapt to the snow- 
platform beneath, while their driver ended matters by 
dismounting, and making horses and sledge jump the 
little cliff, leaving the fate of legs and load to chance. 

By this time the other sanis had come up, and the 
occupants made haste to follow the example of their 
285 


A MAD RIDE 


friends before the courier could commence a like attack 
on themselves; and the passenger sledge passed on as 
much at its ease as the ground would permit. 

Further on, the path widened somewhat; lumps and 
furrows disappeared, leaving a road whose smoothness 
was an irresistible temptation to a skilful driver, such 
as are most of the Siberian yemstchiks. The horses, 
too, required but little urging after their recent dreary 
crawl; the driver gave them their heads, and the 
English traveller began to learn what swift movement 
meant. The sani seemed now to be literally flying 
across the desert, and Hill lost all consciousness of the 
cramped discomfort of his position and of the deadly 
chill which was gradually seizing upon his extremities, 
in the mere joy of this insane gallop. Even the driver 
was affected by the fascination of the moment, and, 
still greedy for increased speed, leant forward, thrashing 
his team untiringly. ■ Faster and faster they sped, the 
runners leaving black lines where their friction had 
melted the snow ; objects on either side ceased to be 
more than a jumbled blur, and hills and valleys ahead 
seemed to be rushing to meet the travellers. 

“ Quicker ! quicker !” shouted everyone, intoxicated 
by the charm of motion and the surge and swell of the 
wind, which, penetrating through their thickest wraps, 
lashed the skin and warmed the blood almost to frenzy. 
Again the yemstchik plied his whip ; there was a jerk, 
a crash, a yell, then complete darkness. 

Hill sat up and rubbed his eyes as one waking out 
of sleep ; he had been thrown face downwards into soft 
snow. Near him sat the driver, a foohsh, bewildered 
286 





A wSpill in the Snow 

Faster and faster they had sped ; then there was a jerk, a crash, a yell, and complete 
darkness. Hill sat up. Near him was the driver, with a foolish, bewildered grin on his 
face. 


















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AN OVERTURNED SLEDGE 


grin on his face, and beyond, the horses—two standing 
still, one Ipng on the snow, while the fourth kept up 
a rhythmical drum-beat with his hind hoofs on the 
body of the inverted sledge. The otvodi, a sort of 
wooden fender projecting above the runners to keep 
the sani sheer of ridges, had broken off, and, at the 
mad rate at which the horses had been going, the driver 
had not seen that the level road had ended in broken 
furrows and mounds worse than any yet encountered ; 
and a sharp sideward tilt, simultaneous with the 
stumbling of two of the horses, had turned the vehicle 
completely upside down. 

Meanwhile the other passengers were underneath, 
and from the grievous moaning that proceeded thence 
it was tolerably certain that some were hurt. With 
patient leverage one end of the sani was raised and 
propped, and the buried men were drawn out. The 
wooden-legged gentleman sat down on the snow, drank 
freely, and then eased his mind and tongue of a few 
unkind things about horses, sards, yemstchiks, and 
Englishmen ; while the courier buried his face in his 
arms, and lay bellowing that his leg was broken, and 
that he should never walk again. 

Hill, who had some skill in surgery, examined the 
injured Russian, and found that his knee was slightly 
sprained, an accident by which the Englishman was 
the gainer; for, when an hour’s united effort had got 
the sledge in readiness to start again, the courier 
accepted his offer of an inside seat, thus leaving Hill 
free to sit on the box out of objectionable company. 

On setting off again, the travellers found the way less 
287 


THROWN OVER THE CLIFF 


practicable than ever, and the sani was soon being 
tossed from ridge to ridge, from crag to hummock, till 
a second upset threatened at every breath. Dusk 
descended, and still many miles separated them from 
their destination ; and to camp by the wayside meant 
probable death. 

At last, as the night reached its darkest, lights 
twinkled ahead, and the wearied men knew that they 
were within a short distance of a settlement. 

“ Saved !” shouted the driver exultantly. 

His remark was premature. At that very moment 
the rough plain terminated in a steep declivity, down 
which the sani began to shoot at breakneck pace, 
jostling the two men on the box violently against each 
other. 

“ Bear a hand at the reins,” gasped the yemstchik 
to his companion. “ The horses will be down.” 

Hill loosened his clutch of the seat-rail, but, before 
he could seize the rein held out to him, he was jerked 
headlong from the sledge to the bottom of a side- 
slope, while the unmanageable team and sani vanished 
down the hill. 

Dazed and giddy, the young man picked himself up. 
No bones were broken, for he had landed in a drift of 
new-fallen snow, in which he now stood armpit deep ; 
but he was sick and shaken from the force and sudden¬ 
ness of his flight through space. Standing there 
chilled to the marrow, he watched despairingly the 
receding sledge-lamps above him. Already he was 
nearly a furlong behind ; there was no possible likeli¬ 
hood of the horses being pulled up, and long before he 
288 


HELP AT HAND 

could hope to reach the road again they would be out 
of sight. 

With no other light to guide him than the gleam of 
the snow, he plodded to the steep face of the little 
precipice down which he had been thrown. Already 
the horses’ hoofs were out of earshot, and a ghastly 
silence spread everywhere—a stillness so palpable and 
intense that, when the wanderer obeyed a very natural 
impulse to shout for help, he started with a sort of 
dread at the sound of his own voice. 

To stand still was fatal, and, shpping at almost every 
other step, he began on hands and knees to scale the 
fifteen or twenty feet that separated him from the 
road. The exertion called forth by the attempt set 
his blood flowing more freely, and served to quell his 
worst fears. After all, he must in course of time reach 
the top; then a brisk downhill run would take him to 
the mining settlement, even if the sani did not stop 
for him at the hill-foot. 

Inch by inch he groped his way, patiently making 
good every step lost by sudden back-slidings, till at 
last, almost exhausted, he had cfimbed so that his eyes 
were on a level with the roadway. Resting to take 
breath before the final spring, he turned his glance 
downhill, then gave a feeble shout of joy. A swinging 
light was coming slowly up the hill to meet him. The 
sledge must have reached the bottom, or else effected a 
stoppage, and someone was coming in search of him. 

Full of revived hope, he entered on the completion of 
his task. To his right was a projecting hand-hold of 
hard snow that promised sure leverage. Hill clutched 
289 T 


ANOTHER FALL 


at and gripped it, and only just in time; for the warmth 
of his gloved fingers had rendered his former holding- 
place smooth and slippery, and in another minute he 
must have lost his grasp. 

With a joyful sense of security he drew himself up 
by a sturdy pull till one knee was safely over the edge ; 
one more—and the prop on which he had relied gave 
way with a sickening crackle, broke off from the cliff’s 
surface, and the climber was again hurled into the 
snowdrift below. 

Half mad with cold, fatigue, and disappointment, 
he shouted his loudest, which was but faint, and wading 
from his bed of snow, once more began the ascent, 
pluckily fighting against the miserable despair which 
crept over him, warning him that the same difficulties 
had to be passed through a second time, and insidiously 
counselling him to rest awhile. 

This time chance led him to a more accessible part 
of the steep, and in a few minutes he had accom¬ 
plished the half of his task ; yet, with swimming brain, 
wondering whether the other half would ever be com¬ 
pleted. 

But the light-bringer was coming nearer, and, as 
Hill knew by the occasional flash of the lamp over the 
cliff-front, making a close and careful search. He 
essayed another cry, but could hear that his voice 
scarcely rose above a whisper. Now the light disap¬ 
peared ; the struggler gained another half-foot, and 
again was compelled to pause. When he had got his 
breath, he shouted once more, with seemingly no better 
result than before. 


290 


THE MEN WITH THE LANTERN 


Yet his ears must have deceived him, for suddenly the 
edge of the cliff immediately above his head was tinged 
with faint orange; then the icicles and snow-crystals 
sparkled and flashed. The light was coming nearer. 
Summoning what remained of his strength, the young 
man wrenched himself a foot higher, and stopped 
again, dumbly watching the flood of light which crept 
down to him. Then the lantern swung over him, and 
after an endless waiting-time (not more than a couple 
of seconds in reality), during which he tried to scream, 
but could not, two faces peered down on him. He 
knew nothing more till he waked stiff in limb, but 
warmed and refreshed, in bed at the mining settlement. 

The yemstchik had, after a while, succeeded in stop¬ 
ping his horses, and he, with one of the passengers, had 
returned in quest of the missing man, who fainted the 
moment their hands seized him, and whom they had 
partly carried, partly hustled, down the hill to the 
sledge and on to the nearest inn. 


T 2 


291 


CHAPTER XXII 

SNAKES AND INDIANS IN UTAH 

Julius Brenchley and Jules Remy—“ Obstinate as a mule ”—The 
shanty and the “ Sandwich Islanders ”—Chmbing the Sierra— 
The mountain-hut—A ghastly scene—Water, but no drink— 
The desert, and the first night there—A bear, a snake, and an 
Indian—Visitors, and how to get rid of them—Remy left alone 
—Three days of torture—Despair—A friendly voice in the 
dark—Hope—The fleeing emigrants—“ ’Ware Indians !”— 
Tracked—The ambush—Attack, charge, and repulse—The 
Mormons—The mirage—The woods—Surprised and captured 
by redskins—A friend in need. 

Between the Sierra Nevada and the Wahsatch Moun¬ 
tains, in North America, is a tableland which of late 
years has had some pretensions to fertihty, but which 
till 1850 was (with the exception of here and there a 
farm or village) nothing but a barren wilderness 
tenanted by snakes and wandering Indians, which 
seemed to have entered into a conspiracy to keep the 
white man and his notions of civihzation at a safe 
distance. North-east of this swampy and unwhole¬ 
some waste is Salt Lake City, the home of those strange 
fanatics the Mormons, whose doctrines and manner 
of life were, in the middle of the nineteenth century, 
attracting the notice of students and travellers—to the 
292 


BRENCHLEY AND REMY 


extent, in the case of Burton, Remy, and others, of 
persuading them to visit the Salt Lake in order to 
pursue their investigations on the spot. 

In the year 1855 the late M. Jules Remy, a celebrated 
French explorer, and an Englishman named Brenchley 
were staying in Sacramento, having just completed a 
tour of the Sandwich Islands ; and, hearing from gold- 
diggers and emigrants of the wonders of Utah, they 
planned an expedition thither. 

Regardless of tales of bloodshed and starvation, the 
two men packed up their bundles of necessaries, and 
set out with but one seryant to cross the great desert 
or chain of deserts that lay between them and the 
Salt Lake. Both were well equipped by nature and 
experience for such an attempt. Remy was young— 
only twenty-nine—yet with a good stock of past 
adventures to his credit, and possessed of his full share 
of his nation’s gaiety and quick wit—assets that help 
a man over obstacles which would effectually check 
more phlegmatic temperaments. Brenchley was the 
elder by ten years, and had grafted on to a character— 
already healthily moulded by Enghsh public-school 
and university life—a rough, practical philosophy and 
knowledge of men, gained through fifteen years of 
travel, one of which had been spent among the forest 
Indians in learning their language and living their life. 

Bearing slightly southwards from the Humboldt 
River, the caravan entered upon the vast plain that 
forms the foreground of the Sierra Nevada—barren 
but for a few shrubs and sun-parched plants. Before 
they had covered the first six miles the adventurers 
293 


“OBSTINATE AS A MULE” 


had begun to learn that the mule did not come by his 
reputation for obstinacy undeservedly. The three men 
rode on horseback, their baggage borne by three mules, 
while another trio of these hybrids were kept in readi¬ 
ness to relieve their brethren. Without warning or 
cause shown, one of the unladen mules suddenly took 
to flight, and had to be pursued by Eemy and George, 
the American servant. While this chase was still in 
progress, Brenchley’s meditations were disturbed by 
one of the pack-mules, which, in a fit of absent-minded¬ 
ness, elected to throw itself down on the sand, there 
to roll at its ease, burden and all. There was a short 
interview between man and beast, in which a riding- 
whip figured, then, bursting its girths and launching out 
liberally with its hind-legs, the creature fled in the 
direction of the first fugitive. After an exciting hunt 
the twain were captured and reinstated, and the 
caravan jogged on till a third mule, ostensibly from 
exhaustion, lay down and refused to rise. George 
bethought him of a specific which was in some sort 
successful—that of lifting the animal bodily, one man 
taking the head and another the tail; but, as this 
process called for repetition half a dozen times within 
the next couple of hours, progress was necessarily slow, 
and our travellers at length availed themselves of a 
wayside shanty, with the courtesy-title of “ inn,” for 
a night’s repose. 

They had not dwelt under its roof many minutes 
before they were surrounded by a swarm of diggers, 
prospecters, loafers, and the like, whose main interest 
seemed to lie in the doings and belongings of new 
294 


“SANDWICH ISLANDERS” 


arrivals. To keep the questioners at bay Remy and 
Brenchley conversed in Hawaiian, which dialect one 
or two of the inmates recognised, and promptly put the 
strangers down as Sandwich Islanders with an itch for 
mining. This belief was the more interesting in that 
it prompted a Frenchman who sat next to Remy to 
criticise the pair frankly and volubly in his native 
tongue. 

They left the inn in the morning to find the plain 
shrouded in a chill mist, which disappeared before the 
midday sun, only to return in the afternoon, ushering 
in a cold and even frosty night, which, for want of a 
better canopy, they spent under the stars. By the time 
the first mountain ascent began, the mules had been 
schooled into a semblance of docility ; indeed, had this 
not been the case, the first climb would have been the 
last, for the approach to the ridge was so steep in 
places that the horses were only an incumbrance, and 
had virtually to be towed along by the mules. Even 
then there was danger of the caravan’s toppHng over, 
for near the summit the slope became almost a chfi, 
where it was a case of “ keep on moving or fall,” and 
dusk coming on made the attempt doubly hazardous. 

Rising at last to a small plateau the tired wayfarers 
made out through the gloom the outline of a small 
wooden hut. Here at least was a night’s lodging. 
Brenchley lit a lantern preparatory to examining the 
new quarters; but the sight that its rays disclosed 
mad© everyone turn away in horror. The place was 
unoccupied, but hurriedly-rified boxes and bags lay in 
confusion, mingled with broken glass, tools, and 
295 


A GHASTLY SCENE 


playing-cards ; while on the bench, walls, and floor were 
spots or channels of scarce-dried blood—human, no 
doubt, if the disorderly state of the hut were a criterion. 
George was in a position to explain matters, for he 
suddenly remembered that, at the inn where they had 
stayed, there had been much talk of two Englishmen 
who had been murdered in a mountain-hut, either by 
Indians, or vagabond Americans, or negroes. The 
terrors of the situation were too much even for 
Brenchley, and urging on the beasts out of sight of the 
hut, he had the camp pitched on the bare ground. 

In the course of the next day’s ride they came 
across the trail of Indians; but there was little time 
for fear or speculation on that head, for another sharp 
declivity, lined with jagged granite rocks, and here 
and there so slippery as to set the mules stumbling, 
claimed all their attention. In the plain below were 
one or two farms or small settlements, but, as much 
time had already been wasted, the travellers preferred 
not to turn out of the way to reach any of these, relying 
on finding water at the distant marshes. 

When at twilight they neared the marsh, men, horses 
and mules were all suffering acutely from thirst. The 
animals, at sight of the water, plunged fetlock-deep 
into the mud regardless of their riders or burthens, and 
bent their heads to drink. Simultaneously every horse 
and mule started up again, recoiling from the pool with 
snorts or whinnies of pain. 

Bemy sprang from his saddle at the risk of being 
fixed in the morass, and peered down at the water. 
It was almost boiling, and the sulphurous vapour 
296 


WATER, BUT NO DRINK 


from it wellnigh asphyxiated the young Frenchman. 
In the rush for drink they had landed on one of the 
hot springs, a chain of which runs from a spur of the 
Sierra—forming first ponds, and finally a marsh. 

With much labour Remy and the cattle were extri¬ 
cated, and the three men pursued their way in silence. 
The outlook was decidedly gloomy ; the horses seemed 
half mad with pain, and the mules unwilling to move 
without frequent fiagellation. 

At last, eastward of the marsh, lights began to 
twinkle, and following their direction the wanderers 
came upon a Mormon hamlet, where were a stream 
of fresh water, and a store where mouldy bread was 
retailed at a shilling a pound. 

In the morning, before leaving this place, Brenchley 
purchased a powerful Indian horse, which in the end 
proved of little use where endurance was required ; and, 
when another day’s journey had brought them on to 
the great wilderness, the Englishman was constrained 
to admit that “ in the desert, under the exhausting 
pressure of long and weary journeys, hunger, and 
thirst, the best horse visibly falls away and breaks 
down, while the mule keeps up and holds out against 
all these hardships. The mule is the true dromedary 
of the American desert.” 

The party soon met with indications of the disasters 
that had befallen other wayfarers. Here lay the 
decaying remnants of an abandoned waggon; there, 
skeletons of oxen that had died by the way ; further on, 
more gruesome still, the corpses, half exhumed by 
prairie-dogs, of emigrants who had died from starva- 
297 


FIRST NIGHT IN THE DESERT 


tion or at the hands of Indians. The sight so worked 
upon George’s nerves that he implored his masters to 
turn back, but they recommended him to go if he were 
so minded, knowing full well that he would not brave 
alone the perils through which they had already passed. 
This strange specimen of humanity had spent most 
of his time aboard ship or in great towns, and his sole 
aims in life seemed to be to sleep and to avoid danger. 

The first night in the desert proper was a restless one 
for Remy. Brenchley was more familiar with the 
prairies, and George, once asleep, was not to be waked 
by anything less forcible than repeated kicks. All 
round the camp re-echoed cries which the Frenchman 
took to be those of human beings, but discovered on 
rousing his friend that they proceeded from the coyotes, 
a species of wolf. In response to these cries came the 
eloquent croaking of thousands of frogs, and when 
Remy’s ear had grown accustomed to this, and he was 
at last sinking to sleep at dawn, a large contingent of 
horseflies visited the camp, their sting or bite raising 
bumps on the faces and necks of the recumbent men. 
Giving up all hope of sleep, the Frenchman sat up to 
smoke, and watch the flight of stray eagles across the 
rapidly lightening sky—occupations which so engrossed 
him that he was unaware of the approach of a huge 
bear till it was within twenty feet of him. Luckily 
his gun lay to hand, and the next moment the dis¬ 
turber of his reflections lay dead with a bullet through 
its brain. 

The report waked Brenchley, who inquired what was 
wrong. He was about to lift his head to look whither 
298 


A SNAKE AND AN INDIAN 


Remy’s finger pointed when the folded cloak under his 
head seemed to move. Darting up in alarm, the 
Englishman saw that a good-sized snake had en¬ 
sconced itself between his neck and the ground, and 
as he stooped to examine it the reptile reared and bit 
him in the forehead. A blow from Remy’s cleaning- 
rod killed the snake, which on investigation proved 
to be non-poisonous. 

After breakfast, as the cooking utensils were being 
packed, Rerny had cause to regret his shot at the bear, 
for George suddenly let fall a kettle, and with a cry 
of fright dropped on the ground quaking and aghast. 
Following his gaze, the two men saw an Indian, doubt¬ 
less attracted by the shot, spring from a hiding-place 
behind the sparse fringe of bushes that skirted the 
camp, and run with incredible speed towards a horse 
tethered in the distance. Remy would have fired on 
the spy, but his more prudent companion stayed him, 
and urged their immediate departure. 

They rode on quickly till noon, by which time the 
heat was too great to allow of their proceeding farther. 
Lying down, they stretched their blankets on sticks 
to act as awnings, and dozed till they were—Brenchley 
and Remy, at least—awakened by the advent of two 
white men, whose speech bewrayed them for Americans, 
and whose looks inspired little confidence in either 
their honesty or their industry. 

Disregarding the men whose slumbers they had 
broken, the new-comers began to finger the harness 
and packages that strewed the ground. One 
“ allowed ” that he could find use for a new bridle 
299 


HOW TO GET EID OF VISITORS 


which he had picked up ; the other, having found 
nothing valuable enough to tempt him, turned uncere¬ 
moniously to Brenchley, and addressing him as “ pard ” 
and “ Cap,” demanded a “ chaw ’f terbacker.” 
Brenchley was dumb-stricken at their impudence ; 
Bemy, the younger and more fiery, whipped out his 
revolver, with the result that the interlopers soon, in 
their own vernacular, “ vamoosed.” 

After sundown Brenchley sent George to collect the 
mules and horses. The youth came back with the 
news that all the animals had disappeared. It was 
now too dark to trace footprints, so all lay down till 
dawn, when Brenchley and George went in search of 
the truants. 

Left to himself, Bemy soon began to reahze what is 
meant by the loneliness of the desert. Many French¬ 
men have written on the beauties of solitude, but few 
of them like it. Hour after hour passed by without a 
sign of his companions. At evening, sickened by the 
miasma from the adjacent marshes, he was about to 
lie down, when he discovered a large white scorpion 
in his blanket. Having despatched it, he moved a 
little farther away, for fear of disturbing another of 
that poisonous fraternity, only to be warned by a click¬ 
ing and clattering that he had a rattlesnake for bed¬ 
fellow. 

To increase his woes, the memory of the two Yankee 
vagrants now recurred to him. They were probably 
lurking somewhere in his neighbourhood, if they were 
not directly responsible for the disappearance of the 
cattle. Somehow the night wore on, Bemy endeavour- 
300 


REMY LEFT ALONE 


ing to sleep with one eye open, and starting at every 
bird-call or coyote-cry. At four he rose and got 
breakfast, and still the others did not come. To 
divert his thoughts, he wandered away in search of 
game, but found nothing more tempting than a few 
musk-rats ; then, fancying he heard voices from the 
camp, hurried back, only to find it still unoccupied. 

He had used the last of the water for his morning 
cofiee, and was now parched for want of some drink ; 
but all his efforts to find water, other than the deadly 
poison of the marshes, were unavailing. Soon, how¬ 
ever, the sky blackened, and one or two vivid Hghtning- 
flashes intimated that he would not have to wait much 
longer for water. In fact, almost before he had finished 
setting out his various pots and tins to collect whatever 
the heavens might let fall, the storm broke and the 
camp was deluged. The blanket-tent was soon worse 
than useless, the whole place was a swamp, and Remy’s 
only means of escaping a chill was to keep on the move. 

Presently, above the croak-croak of the frogs, he 
heard the sound of voices, and oh, joy! of hoofs. Start¬ 
ing through the gathering gloom to greet his friend, 
Remy was stayed again by the unmistakable rumble 
of wheels. It could hardly be Brenchley after all. 

The distant moving mass became more and more 
distinguishable, and at length announced itself to 
consist of five waggons, occupied by a number of 
emigrants, principally women and children. These had 
abandoned the desert journey, and were moving west¬ 
ward again. They told a dismal story. They had 
fallen in with redskins by the Humboldt River, who 
301 


THE FLEEING EMIGRANTS 


had appeared friendly, and had accompanied them for 
some distance; then had suddenly uttered their war- 
whoop, tomahawked the leaders of the party, plundered 
their stores, and made off. 

Rejecting the offer of their escort back to civilization, 
Remy returned to his lonely habitation scarcely able 
to stand from fatigue, yet not daring to lie down in 
the rain; shuddering at the emigrants’ tale, aching with 
remorse at having allowed his chum to wander so far 
unprovided with food. Through sheer inability to 
stand any longer he was at last obliged to construct a 
rough couch of the collected baggage, where he lay with 
the rain still pelting on him. 

By morning a slight breeze had risen, the rain ceased, 
and the weary Frenchman found occupation in laying 
out the blankets to dry in the sun, striving to keep at 
bay the thoughts that suggested mishap to Brenchley. 

After a while, maddened by the solitude, and longing 
to walk off the cramp that had gripped his limbs, he 
took his gun and left the camp, careless as to direction. 
An hour’s brisk walk brought him to a break in the 
ground—a sudden drop of six or eight feet, below which 
stood a hut from whose chimney struggled a scarcely 
perceptible smoke. 

Remy pushed open the door, and found himself 
confronting the two American tramps, busy over a 
game of cards. At sight of his gun one of them 
brushed past him and fled across the plain, but the 
other seemed to take the stranger’s arrival more coolly, 
offered him whisky and a seat, and inquired after his 
companions. 


302 


THE YANKEE AND FIRE-ARMS 


Though he had at last found someone to talk to, 
Remy had little heart for conversation, particularly 
with a man who might prove to be the assassin of his 
chum. But presently the Yankee turned the conversa¬ 
tion in the direction of fire-arms, and innocently asked 
to be allowed to examine his guest’s rifle. The request 
put Remy on his guard, and he replied that his weapon 
was of a particular pattern, and that he never allowed 
a stranger to touch it for fear of its being injured. 

The tramp, smiling, stooped to open a locker near 
his feet, and Remy, watching his every movement, made 
as though to put the gun behind him; really, however, 
pushing the stock under his right arm, holding the 
barrel in his left hand, and pointing the muzzle barely 
up to the level of the table which separated him from 
the other man. The latter with a sly, swift movement 
snatched a revolver from the locker, and, facing his 
companion, said : 

“ Guess ril take that gun, pard.” 

“ Eh hien ! Take it, sir,” said the polite Frenchman 
with a significant smile, as he cocked the hammer and 
raised the barrel half an inch, so that it was pointing 
full at the other’s body before he could possibly present 
his revolver. 

The American doubtless understood the smile, for he 
speedily dropped the weapon, and tried to laugh away 
the incident, indicating that the revolver contained no 
cartridges. Content to drop the matter as being only 
a joke, Remy took leave of his disreputable acquaint¬ 
ance, and hurried back to camp, once again buoying 
himself up with the hope that he might find Brenchley 
303 


A MOUNTED MAN IN SIGHT 


awaiting him. But the hope was vain, and another 
lonely evening threatened him. 

Anxiety and nerve-strain will tell even on the stoutest 
heart and the strongest constitution, and now the 
brave man who had faced a hundred dangers on sea 
and land, who had more than once narrowly escaped 
murder by savages, and who had carried his life in his 
hand in the islands of the Pacific, sat down with tear- 
dimmed eyes to write a farewell letter to the “ petite 
maman ” in far-away France, telfing her that they 
would never meet again, for that night he would 
assuredly be killed. 

But reference to the danger from his ill-favoured 
neighbours at the hut bade him be on the alert, and 
again picking up his gun, he set ofi in the twihght to 
inspect the district surrounding the camp. This task 
completed to his satisfaction, he was returning when 
the rhythmical beat of horse’s hoofs sounded across 
the prairie. Nearer and nearer came the sounds, till 
at length the figure of a mounted man stood out 
against the sky. 

The rider was certainly not Brenchley or George; 
but, should he be an enemy, the sides were, so far, equal; 
and, breathing more freely, Remy challenged the new¬ 
comer. 

The reply came in cheery Hibernian accents, which 
the Frenchman instantly recognised as those of an Irish 
farmer named Murdoch whom he had known in 
Sacramento, and who (being bound for some distance in 
their direction) would have accompanied the travellers 
thence but that his progress was too slow for them. 

304 


A GENIAL IRISHMAN 


So great was Remy’s delight at the sound of a friendly 
voice that he almost dragged his visitor out of the 
saddle in his hurry to offer him refreshment. But even 
sweeter than the genial farmer’s kindly hand-pressure 
was the news he brought. On the previous evening, 
on his way to his brother’s farm, he had met Brenchley 
and George in a place called Rag Town, whither they 
had traced the cattle, which they found in the pound, 
the keeper of which refused to give them up under 
payment of fifteen dollars. As they had no money 
with them, Murdoch had gone bail for the amount, and 
then, following Brenchley’s directions, had ridden out 
to the camp to set the Frenchman’s mind at ease. 

Remy was almost delirious with delight. All fear 
of the Yankees or of all the Indian tribes in the United 
States was dispelled. He was astir again at daybreak, 
and had scarcely finished making the coffee when 
Brenchley’s voice announced that all was right. 

For the next twenty-four hours the friends were too 
exhausted and too full of anecdote to think of moving 
forward, but when next they started, their past dangers 
and apprehensions were forgotten, for the sun was 
bright, tempered with a cool breeze, and they knew 
they were within a few days of their journey’s end. 

But this feeling of satisfaction was not to be of long 
duration. Another party of emigrants passed them 
in full flight, shouting that Indians were in pursuit 
and warning them to turn back. 

Neglecting the warning, the pilgrims to Mormon- 
land rode on, and soon lighted on the trail of a con¬ 
siderable body of Indians. Once or twice they saw a 
305 u 


THE AMBUSH 


mounted redskin afar off, sometimes ahead, sometimes 
behind them, till they were obliged to recognise the 
fact that they were being watched. This conclusion 
was confirmed later, when, on Remy’s firing at a huge 
crow in their rear, two Indians leapt up from the brush¬ 
wood a hundred yards behind, and fled across the 
plain. 

Deeming discretion the better part of valour, the 
adventurers bent their course towards the Humboldt 
River, and had nearly reached its bank when, behind a 
willow-copse, they saw a company of Indians with 
their horses lying in ambush. 

Brenchley’s knowledge of their methods of warfare 
made it necessary for him to put himself in command 
of his party. Turning sharply to the right for a few 
hundred yards, he again wheeled, and pursued his way 
parallel to the river, knowing that Indians will rarely 
flght in the open unless they can take their quarry by 
surprise. 

Nevertheless this time he was mistaken, for a few 
of the bolder spirits, enraged at this manoeuvre of the 
enemy, made a dash from their place of concealment, 
riding towards the strangers and shooting their arrows 
as they rode. 

“ Let them have it, then, if we must,” said Brenchley, 
and promptly two deadly shots rang out from the gun 
of each of the two white men. The savages reined up 
and fled back to their companions under cover of a 
flight of arrows from the ambush, backed up by a 
small volley from shot-guns—^weapons dangerous 
enough at close quarters, but ludicrously useless at long 
306 


INDIANS REPULSED 


range. Moving slowly on, the travellers reloaded, and 
suddenly gave the ambushed redskins four more 
proofs of their skill, relying on revolvers and butt-ends 
in the event of a quick charge. But the enemy was 
in no case to pursue hostilities, judging by the screams 
that followed the second firing. Those who had horses 
picked up the dead or wounded and galloped away, 
followed more slowly by the unmounted men. Among 
the latter our friends recognised their Yankee acquaint¬ 
ances, who in their thirst for revenge had evidently 
put the Indians on the track of the explorers. 

They now had an opportunity to examine their 
own wounds. Brenchley had been struck in the neck 
by an arrow, and Remy had four or five buckshot in 
his hand—damage that was no more than a laughing 
matter except to the heroic George, who had fallen 
from his horse in sheer fright, and whose teeth were 
still on the chatter. 

Higher up the river they reached a Mormon village, 
where their victory over the Indians gave them con¬ 
siderable prestige. The Mormons regaled them with 
blood-curdling accounts of redskin ravages between 
there and Salt Lake City, and implored the travellers 
to avail themselves of an escort over the next few 
miles, which in the end they agreed to. 

The last portion of the desert seemed at first sight 
to be the most barren, though the travelling was much 
easier; for, as far as the eye could see, stretched the salt 
waste, destitute of path or plant—one huge flat floor 
of grey. Yet by afternoon the intolerable sameness 
showed signs of coming to an end, for all at once the 
307 U 2 


THE MIRAGE 


flats ahead were divided by a broad, swelling river, 
whose banks were shaded by tall trees. The wavelets 
sparkled in the sun, and the long dark avenues looked 
so enticing that the explorers, who were riding some 
way ahead of their escort, involuntarily spurred their 
horses on. As they drew nearer to it the river broad¬ 
ened out into a wide bay, studded with palm-clad 
islands, round which stately ships in full sail glided, 
swan-like. Caves and rocks, headlands and coves, 
sprang into view round the curve of the bay, and 
beyond these stood a handsome city, with forest back¬ 
ground, whose towers and spires came suddenly into 
being from out the clouds. Once more the bay changed, 
breaking itself up into glittering pools, while the 
islands became fair meadows dotted with grazing cattle. 
Then a leaden curtain, as it were, seemed to rise 
from before the feet of the astonished travellers, and 
suddenly to envelop the whole view, sweeping it out 
of their sight, and leaving in its stead the horrible 
grey-green of the salt desert. 

Brenchley and Remy were both destined to see 
many another mirage in various parts of the globe, but 
never one to excel this in vividness and convincingness. 

While they were still discussing it the escort rode up, 
warning them that the most likely spot for an Indian 
attack was almost reached. They were coming in 
sight of the first semblance of woodland which they 
had seen for many days, and the guides, eight in 
number, seemed scarcely certain as to which of a 
variety of paths was theirs. 

Before they could decide, a fiendish war-whoop 
308 


A FRIEND IN NEED 


echoed through the trees and across the plain, and in 
a moment they were hemmed in on every side by 
Indians. 

Brenchley worked his way to the centre of his band 
to take command, but was hindered by the leader of the 
Mormon escort, who, calling out a few words in Indian 
dialect, succeeded in gaining an armistice while he 
rode over to the two chiefs, whom he recognised as 
converts of the Mormonite missionaries. 

The two braves agreed to call off their men if the 
pale-faces would “ make it worth their while.” Less 
extortionate than the traditional highway robber, they 
seemed overjoyed and more than content with the 
gift of some gunpowder, tobacco, and a few small 
coins, and so far from harming the strangers, pointed 
out to them a way which led them, without further 
hindrance, direct to the Salt Lake. 


309 


CHAPTER XXIII 

burton’s march to TANGANYIKA 

Sir Richard Burton, K.C.M.G.—The Tanganyika expedition—A 
halt at Bomani—The “ three starts ”—Advantage of being a 
Hnguist—The brave Baloch—^A short way with loiterers—A 
wooded desert—A night of thirst—The African ass—Thieves— 
Temptation to go back—Small-pox—An inspection of kit 
leads to mutiny—Threatening the wrong man—Burton’s 
notion of “ taking back his words ”—Desertion and return of 
the escort—Stopped by savages—Ants and wild bees—Croco¬ 
diles and cannibals—Fighting for a servant’s Hfe—The Captain’s 
report of his escort. 

The man who can speak fluently nearly thirty different 
languages, play four games of chess at a time blindfold, 
hold high rank among English men of letters, be a 
distinguished soldier and diplomat, and one of the 
world’s greatest and bravest explorers, must needs be 
a genius ; and such was the late Captain Sir Richard 
Burton. 

While still a young soldier serving in India he had 
made for himself a considerable reputation as a 
traveller, for his furloughs were spent in journeying, 
often quite alone and in disguise, through regions then 
but little known. 

It was during one of these periods of leave (1857-1858) 
310 


THE TANGANYIKA EXPEDITION 


that he undertook the command of an exploring expe¬ 
dition that was to proceed across East Africa from 
Zanzibar to Lake Tanganyika—a country of swamps, 
deserts, forests, and barren mountains and valleys. 

He landed at Kaol with an escort of two small 
companies of Baloch, or soldiers of the Sultan of 
Zanzibar—one to act as temporary guard till the 
expedition was well into the interior, the other to 
accompany it the whole way. 

Burton had every intention of pushing forward at 
once, but the Baloch had other views. It was only by 
the exercise of much patience and tact that he lured 
them from their stopping-place outside Kaol; and 
when short but dreary marches over thorn-grown 
sand brought them to the grassy swamps of Bomani, 
the escort immediately began to make preparations 
for a lengthy stay, and the Captain “ tasted all the 
bitterness that can fall to the lot of those who explore 
regions unvisited by men of their own colour. The 
air of Bomani is stagnant, the sun fiery, and clouds 
of mosquitoes make the nights miserable. Despite 
these disadvantages, it is a favourite halting-place for 
up caravans, who defer to the last the evil days of long 
travel and short rations . . . and I could not persuade 
the Baloch to move. In Asia two departures usually 
suffice ; in Africa there must be three—the little start, 
the great start, and the start in chief. Some clamoured 
for tobacco, others for guitar-strings, and all—born 
donkey-drivers—complained loudly of having to load 
and lead an ass.” 

Up to a certain limit Burton could lay claim to the 
311 


ADVANTAGES OF BEING A LINGUIST 


patience of Job, but beyond it he was a dangerous man 
to trifle with. That hmit was reached when, standing 
in his tent, he overheard some of the guard (using a 
local dialect of their own, of which he was supposed to 
be ignorant) roundly cursing himself and his European 
companion, and trying to stir their comrades to mutiny 
with the remark : “ They are infldels, and shall not 
march under our flag.” 

The words were scarcely out of the speaker’s mouth 
when Burton stood facing the group, revolver in 
hand. 

“ Listen to me, my children,” he said softly, but 
loudly enough to be heard by everyone. “ I’m going 
to blow the head off the next man who says I shall not 
march under the Baloch flag.” 

He had spoken to them in precisely the same patois 
which they had employed, and the effect was extra¬ 
ordinary. Some of the mutineers dropped their arms 
and threw themselves on the ground, fearful of witch¬ 
craft ; others set up a dismal howl, and rushed to hide 
in their tents ; while a third lot humbly expressed their 
sorrow, and denied part or lot with the would-be 
mutineers. 

For the remainder of the day the order observed 
among the guards was perfect; they scarcely ventured 
to speak above a whisper. But in the morning strange 
and wondrous tales were floating about the camp of 
savages lying in wait to kill and cook the guard; of 
traps set to catch strangers; of a body of Wazarano 
negroes, several thousand strong, entrenched on the 
route, who would rob them to their very shirts ; and the 
312 


THE BRAVE BALOCH 


Jemadars, or Baloch officers, reported that they were 
powerless to persuade their men to strike tents. 

“ Such reports did real damage. The principal 
danger was the tremulous alacrity with which the 
escort prepared, upon each trivial occasion, for battle, 
murder, and sudden death. A squabble among the 
villagers kept the Baloch squatting on their hams 
with lighted matches from dusk till dawn. A hyena, 
entering the camp by night, caused a confusion which 
only the deadliest onslaught could have justified. A 
slave, hired on the road, hearing of these horrors fied in 
dismay. This, the first of desertions, was by no means 
the last.” 

At last Burton would stand such miserable cowardice 
no longer. On the third morning he issued an order 
that the guard must be ready to march within an hour. 
Some of the Baloch sat down and wept, others sulkily 
saddled asses or buckled on knapsacks, jeering the 
while at the few whom military instinct and training 
bade obey unhesitatingly. Five minutes before the 
hour Burton called to him his European friend, his 
two half-caste Portuguese-Hindu servants, and the 
more trustworthy of the guides and Jemadars ; and, 
when the bugle sounded to fall in, a small force armed 
with donkey-whips emerged from the Captain’s tent. 
To those who were in their places Burton gave a brief 
command to fire on any runaway, then he led his tiny 
army towards the dawdlers. 

“ We are ready to start, gentlemen ; you, apparently, 
are not,” he said, and immediately caught the nearest 
man by the back of the neck, and swung him spinning 
313 


A SHORT WAY WITH LOITERERS 


across the ground to the line. This was the signal for 
general onslaught: whips flew high and fell heavily, 
and in a few moments the recalcitrants were glad to 
fall in; all except one, who lifted his gun threateningly, 
and straightway lay sprawling from a blow of the 
leader’s flst. 

“ Now I think we’re all ready,” said Burton with 
grim politeness as the flnal loiterer was hustled into 
position by his Jemadar. And this was start No. 2. 
Start No. 3 followed upon a halt rendered necessary 
by the discovery that, in the hurried departure from 
Bomani, several tools and instruments had been left 
behind, and while these were being sought a couple 
of donkeys strayed and had to be chased. 

The “ start in chief ” was at length made, but no 
sooner was the expedition embarked on the wooded 
desert on the way to Wady-el-Maut than a quarrel 
arose among the escort; and when this was subdued 
thirteen of the Baloch fled coastwards, and had to be 
pursued by a Jemadar. 

During the next few days progress was slow, for the 
desert-forest was far more impassable than its sandy 
companion. The only water to be seen was the 
malarial fllth in the hollows, the very smell of which 
bred fever. Hyenas lurked about the camp after 
nightfall on the chance of prey ; even in broad daylight 
three asses were killed by the flerce African wolves; 
and farther afleld, and sometimes alarmingly near, 
sounded the sullen roar of the forest lion. 

Escape from such a neighbourhood was relief, even 
though it was by way of the cheerless slope leading 
314 


A NIGHT OF THIRST 


down to Wady-el-Maut and Dar-el-Jua—‘‘ the valley 
of death ” and “ the home of hunger.” Before making 
the descent Burton halted for examination of stores, 
and found that packages entrusted to the Baloch had 
been pilfered from. He remonstrated, with the result 
that a Jemadar, who had been censured for negligence, 
turned about and announced that he was going home ; 
but he was stopped in mid-career by a cry from his 
friends which warned him that he was covered by 
the Captain’s gun-muzzle. 

So great was the heat here that Burton would have 
halted till the next day but that the whole party had 
not a quart of water between them, and there was little 
chance of finding any till the valley was reached. The 
incline was longer than had appeared, and by evening 
they seemed no nearer the bottom than at starting. 
The guard and the asses were dead-beat, and a halt 
became imperative. 

It was a restless night for Burton. His only friend 
had malarial fever ; his own tongue was black with 
thirst, and the howls of fear or pain from the Baloch 
were enough to prevent any man sleeping. Before 
it was light he ordered the reveille to be sounded, for 
the want of drink now threatened to drive everyone 
mad. The thirsty, jaded donkeys were urged down 
the hill till, probably smelling water, they cantered of 
themselves; and, by the time the sun was up, the beasts 
were straining madly forward through a dense mass of 
spear-grass, tiger-grass, and tangled thorns to where a 
stream, clear and silvery from a distance, was seen to 
wind. 


315 


BALOCH AGAIN ALARMED 


Water it certainly was, and everyone drank greedily 
of it; but it was crawling with things only of interest 
to biologists, and he who drank of it did well to first 
guard his nostrils against the odour thereof. 

While the party was still indulging in rest and 
refreshment sudden yells of fear from the escort 
attracted Burton’s attention to the arrival of a body of 
savages armed with spears. The Jemadars en¬ 
deavoured to keep their men from fleeing, while Burton 
and his chief guide went up and addressed the leader, 
offering him presents of cloth and beads. Manifestly 
there was nothing to fear here, for the barbarians 
seemed prepared rather to suffer death than to inflict 
it, and were overjoyed at the white man’s gifts. 

The next stoppage was at a river of which the valley- 
stream was doubtless a feeder. Here Burton’s 
elephant-gun, an old friend, fell into the water, and 
the only servant who dared dive in search of it— 
Gaetano, one of the half-castes—would have been 
seized by a crocodile but for a timely bullet from 
Burton’s revolver, which either killed or blinded the 
monster. 

Beyond the river a day’s deer-shooting supplied the 
company with abundance of flesh food, not altogether 
a piece of good fortune, for the Captain was too ill 
from sudden fever to superintend the distribution of the 
meat, and the two Goanese half-castes and half the 
Baloch nearly died through over-eating. 

Again the marching rate dropped to but a few miles a 
day, with often a day’s rest between, for Burton’s 
weakness and occasional delirium forbade his regulating 
316 


THE AFRICAN ASS 


the journey. After a week, however, his extraordinary 
vitality triumphed, and he was again able to sit his 
ass and take command. Concerning the African ass, 
he says : 

“ He is stubborn, vicious, and guilty of the four 
mortal sins of the equine race—he shies, stumbles, 
rears, and runs away. . . . The animals are addicted 
to fidgeting, plunging, and pirouetting when mounted ; 
they hog and buck till they burst their frail girths ; 
they seem to prefer holes and hollows ; they rush about, 
pig-like, when high winds blow, and they bolt under 
tree-shade when the sun shines hot. The roundness 
of their flanks, the shortness of their backs, and their 
want of shoulder, combine to make the meagre Arab 
saddle unsafe for anything but a baboon or a boy, 
whilst the straightness of their goat-like pasterns 
renders the pace a wearisome, tripping hobble.” 

As soon as he was well enough he took another 
inventory. Several more asses were missing, and 
provisions were unaccountably diminished, as were 
also many of the rolls of cloth and bags of trinkets 
brought as presents to native chiefs. 

The official grant of money had been so small that 
only the most rigid economy from the very first would 
allow of his stores holding out, and these repeated 
losses were beggaring him before anything like half 
of the journey was accomplished. 

Probably every modern explorer from Columbus to 
Stanley has been obliged to face some dark hour in 
which the temptation to “ give up and go back ” has 
assailed and wellnigh overcome him, and it is nothing 
317 


TEMPTATION TO TURN BACK 


to Sir Richard Burton’s discredit that his case was not 
to be an exception. The whole undertaking now 
seemed hopeless and Quixotic. If ever he reached 
Tanganyika it would, at this rate, be without ammu¬ 
nition, provisions, or presents; and the Baloch, even 
when well fed, could hardly be expected to face the 
cannibal hordes said to inhabit the shores of the 
lake. 

But, like the brave man he was, he put temptation 
from him, and taking comfort from the guides’ asser¬ 
tion that they were nearing Dut’humi, a fertile and 
well-watered area, he resolutely shut his eyes to his 
losses and to the growing discontent of the Baloch, and 
steered for the land of promise that lay ahead. 

Dut’humi was reached and passed, its fertility soon 
giving place to bare hillocks, beyond which were fever- 
swamps, “ where the earth emits the odour of sul¬ 
phuretted hydrogen, and in some parts the traveller 
might fancy a corpse to be hidden behind every bush.” 

At the native village of Zungomero, where the 
temporary escort was dismissed. Burton engaged a 
considerable number of native bearers, after which he 
was very glad to leave, for the remaining Baloch 
distinguished themselves by wholesale robbery of 
native huts and hen-roosts, and at times a general fight 
seemed inevitable. 

Once away, they were soon in the hill district—the 
East African Gh^ts—^where the two Europeans quickly 
got rid of the ill effects of fever. Howbeit it was only 
to run the risk of contracting small-pox, which disease 
was introduced by some of the new porters, and which 
318 


INSPECTION OF KIT 


spread so rapidly that “ the way became strewn with 
corpses.” Further on, another donkey dropped dead, 
thus reducing the number of those worthy animals to 
twenty-three. 

A fresh epidemic of dishonesty, aggravated by inso¬ 
lence, broke out among the Baloch, and Burton felt 
that the time had come when either he or they must 
be master. At Zonwhe he suddenly ordered the men 
to turn out for inspection of kit. They paraded, and 
their officers appeared to make a careful scrutiny, but 
none of the missing property was forthcoming. This 
was reported by the chief Jemadar to Burton, who 
from his hammock watched the proceedings. 

“ If you can’t find the guilty man I must put you 
all down as thieves,” he said, knowing full well that 
this officer was the biggest rogue of them all. 

The Jemadar laid his hand on his sword-hilt men¬ 
acingly as he replied : 

“ In Zanzibar we are accounted men of honour, and 
should be trusted with untold gold.” 

“ In Zanzibar they probably don’t know you as 
well as I do,” retorted the Captain. 

The man’s face grew hideous with rage. 

“ It had been well had we never seen you !” he 
shouted. “ You have starved and overworked us 
ever since you took us from our homes.” 

“You are a lying scoundrel!” said the English 
officer calmly. 

The Jemadar’s eyes flashed, and he drew his sword. 

“ Either take back your words or you shall die!” he 
screamed. 


319 


THREATENING THE WRONG MAN 


Burton laughed softly, as did his friend. The valiant 
Baloch leader was innocently threatening the man 
whom both French and English armies regarded as 
one of the most expert swordsmen of Europe. Still 
lounging back, and looking lazily up at the Jemadar 
with the peculiarly cold stare for which he was cele¬ 
brated, the Englishman said : 

“ You—are—a—flying—scoundrel!” then added in 
more business-like tones : “ And now sheathe your 
sword, or you’ll first be kicked and then put under 
arrest.” 

“ Truly this man is possessed by the devil,” muttered 
the awestruck African, and he hastily turned away 
to vent his rage on the chief guide, deciding that baiting 
a British soldier was poor sport. The two men were 
soon at high words, and the other Baloch joined their 
leader, all shouting in chorus : 

“ We will have at least one sheep -4 day to eat, or 
else go home.” 

As the guide, almost his only loyal follower, was in 
danger of being mobbed or murdered. Burton pushed 
his way unceremoniously to his side. 

“ What he said, addressing the Baloch, who fell 
back respectfully as his hand touched the revolver in 
his belt. “ A whole sheep a day among a gang of idle 
rascals who in Zanzibar are half starved, and never 
see mutton once in a month unless they steal it! 
You’ll have what I choose to give you. To your tents, 
you—^you —heroes /” 

In the evening the chief guide reported that the escort 
was deserting. 


320 


RETURN OF THE ESCORT 


“ I shan’t stop them,” said the Captain. “ They’ll 
come back the first time they hear a hyena howl.” 

He was tired of their greed, cowardice, and ingrati¬ 
tude. One of the noisiest of the mutineers had not 
long before been seized with fever. Burton had sat up 
with him a whole night, tended him with all care, and 
even given up his ass to the invaHd, though himself 
scarce well enough to walk. 

The following evening anxious shouts from behind 
announced the truth of his prophecy. The Baloch 
were coming back, hungry and contrite, and imploring 
that their defection should not be reported at Zanzibar. 

After this the robberies were reduced to a minimum, 
and there were no more open complaints about rations. 
But, the Baloch being quieted, it was high time for the 
native porters to begin, and during the descent of the 
Rubeho, or “windy pass,” a dispute arose between 
these unclad gentlemen, which resulted in their 
dropping their burdens and clawing each other till they 
felt better, or till the interpreter hinted that the terrible 
white stranger who could quell a mutiny could also 
knock their woolly heads together. 

On entering the Ugogo country the caravan was a 
second time “ held up ” by savages, who demanded 
presents—and got them; while fifteen of the porters 
thought this a fitting occasion to desert. Thus 
delayed till nearly evening, Burton had considerable 
difficulty in finding a suitable camping-ground; for, 
when at last water was discovered, the tents were 
pitched on a sand-hill, which soon announced itself to 
be an immense ant-heap, the dwellers in which had a 
321 X 


CROCODILES AND CANNIBALS 


special bite of their own. In great haste everyone 
withdrew to the neighbouring valley, and arrange¬ 
ments were almost complete, when a swarm of wild 
bees, more formidable than Enghsh wasps, put in an 
appearance, diiving away even the English soldier, 
who had faced a dozen Afghans single-handed. 

Yet Burton began to regard his troubles lightly, for 
only the “ Fiery Field ”—a broad jungle with mud-pits 
to do duty for wells and pools—and the “ Land of the 
Moon ” lay between him and his goal. Nevertheless, 
the last part of the march was to be marked by further 
desertions from his troop, and by a temporary attack 
of paralysis for himself, following on sunstroke. 

Having met, and bribed, and entered into treaty with 
Kannena, the most powerful of the lake-tribe chiefs, 
the explorer left most of the men at the camp some 
distance from the shore, and then spent some weeks 
in navigating Tanganyika, narrowly escaping death 
from malaria and crocodiles. On his return he found 
the camp surrounded by a hungry swarm of the 
famous Murirumba man-eaters. But the appearance 
of these men was less awe-inspiring than their name ; 
they were but timid and spiritless creatures, and a 
couple of volleys of birdshot caused them to leave 
hurriedly. 

On the night before the return journey was to be 
commenced, Burton was waked by loud cries, followed 
by the report of a pistol. He hastened out to find 
Valentine, the second half-caste, a close prisoner in 
the centre of a torch-lit group of natives of Kannena’s 
tribe, one of whom bore the outward signs of being 
322 


A FIGHT FOR A LIFE 


royal executioner, while the Baloch kept at a safe 
distance. The Goanese lads had been servants of 
Burton’s for some years, were indifferent faithful, and 
had come all the way from India with him, so that he 
felt more responsible for Valentine’s safety than if he 
had been a Baloch. 

When after much struggling he reached the centre 
of the crowd, it was to find the negroes clamouring for 
the half-caste’s blood, while the interpreter argued and 
pleaded with Kannena. The Captain’s appearance 
made the executioner draw back, and gave some heart 
to his servants, who tried to explain matters. 

One of the tribesmen, mad with drink, had started, 
club in hand, to run amok through the camp ; the 
guard had acted after its kind, while Valentine, with 
more pluck than discretion, had fired one of his master’s 
revolvers, of which he had temporary charge. The 
bullet had missed the delinquent, and drilled a hole 
through the nearest of his companions. 

“ He must die!” shouted Kannena; a sentence which 
gained in popularity as it was passed from mouth to 
mouth. 

“ Listen, 0 Kannena,” said Burton, holding up a 
revolver; “ the first man who lays a hand on my servant 
wiU die, perhaps in much pain, and the second and 
third likewise, even to the sixth.” 

Kannena smiled triumphantly, and presented the 
weapon that had been taken from Valentine; but the 
Englishman laughed in his face. 

“ No good ; the lad had but one cartridge, and it is 
used. I have six.” 

X 2 


323 


ONLY A SLAVE 


“ I can bring many hundreds of men against you who 
will kill you,” argued the black chief. 

“If I do not return home alive, O chief,” returned 
the explorer, “ bear in mind that I come from a country 
that can bring many thousands of men against you — 
white men, who would burn your homes, and blow you 
all up to the clouds.” 

The words created a sensation. Many thousands of 
white men ! Was ever the like heard of ? Fearless 
men such as this one ? And all armed with things 
that had only to be held out to go off with a thunder¬ 
clap, and to kill ? 

The wiseacres of the tribe pressed round their chief 
urging forgiveness as clamorously as they had de¬ 
manded the death penalty. Anything was better than 
bringing a swarm of white men about their ears. And, 
after all, the man who had been shot was only a slave. 

Kannena jumped at the final argument as a con¬ 
venient loophole. Only a slave, was he ? Of course 
that put a new aspect on the case. 

After further deliberation the magnanimous chief 
told the prisoner he would be released on payment of 
a fine. A bale of cloth and some more beads met this, 
and the natives withdrew, absent-mindedly taking 
with them three goats that did not belong to them. 
Burton subsequently examined and treated the slave, 
and left him in a fair way to recovery. 

The monotony of the homeward journey was broken 
by a squabble between the bearers and some natives 
whose sheep they stole, and, later, by civil war among 
the Baloch, who to the last seemed determined on 
324 


THE CAPTAIN’S REPORT 


retaining their proud position of annoyance-in-chief to 
the commander of the expedition. 

As the coast once more came in sight, the escort 
became unnaturally docile and dove-like, in the hope 
that Burton would render a favourable account of 
them to the Sultan. His report was ambiguous; for 
he stated that, throughout, they had acted with the 
kind of valour and obedience to be expected of true 
Baloch. 


325 


CHAPTER XXIV 

THE ARABIAN DESERT 

William Gifford Palgrave—The Syrian doctor—A dangerous recog¬ 
nition—The simoon—Riad and the Wahabis—A distinguished 
patient and a royal scientist—The Arab horse—A visit from 
the mob—Abd Allah’s enmity—A perilous interview—Escape 
—An anxious three days—Camel or dromedary ?—A desert 
fog—Wells—The Dahna—Locusts—Rivalry between the guides 
—Dispute among the guides. 

In the year 1862 Napoleon III., having conceived the 
idea of importing Arab horses into France for breeding 
purposes, and at the same time wishing to know what 
was the feeling of Arabia towards the French, en¬ 
deavoured to find someone who would travel across 
the Arabian peninsula—someone who would mix freely 
among the people, and would lose no opportunity of 
inquiring into their commerce, diplomatic relations, 
and national character. 

For a long time he sought in vain. Such work as he 
wanted done was no child’s play, no mere travelling 
in search of interesting adventure, for it was many 
years since a European had Lared to set foot in that 
mysterious land, little known and understood in 
Europe save from literature and legend. Whoever 
326 


WILLIAM GIFFORD PALGRAVE 


went must be prepared to brave not only the desert, 
the brigand, and the beast of prey, but, worse still, the 
prisons and the executioners of a people whose 
fanatical hatred of the Christian and the European 
amounted to frenzy. 

At last the Emperor found a volunteer—an English¬ 
man, in whom the spirit of adventure and the love of 
missionary enterprise dwelt side by side ; a man 
excelled by none, and only equalled by Richard Burton, 
in level-headedness, thorough grasp of Eastern 
languages and customs, and readiness to face death 
at the call of duty. This man was William Gifford 
Palgrave—scholar, soldier, missionary, doctor, and 
diplomat. 

He was already familiar with danger in many forms. 
He had served as an officer of native infantry in India, 
had traversed, all alone, unknown paths in Egypt and 
Syria, and was one of the few survivors of the massacre 
of the Christians at Damascus in 1861. 

Assuming the garb of a Syrian Christian doctor, 
which character his features and bearing (he was of 
Jewish blood) and his perfect command of Syriac and 
Arabic helped him to sustain, he now journeyed from 
the Levant to the city of Riad, and thence through the 
Arabian desert known as the “ Dahna ” to El Hofuf. 

In one town on the way to Riad he was recognised 
by an Arab who had known him in Damascus, but 
Palgrave’s ready tongue and calmly innocent air 
disarmed his enemy, persuading him that he was 
mistaken. 

As he entered on the desert patch that lies outside 
327 


THE SIMOON 


Riad he heard disquieting accounts of the ravages of 
the wind known as the simoon. Though his Arab 
attendants always spoke with terror of this “ poisoned 
gale ” he had hitherto treated the matter lightly. 

One day, however, almost at the moment when he 
was joking the guides about their fear of a mere breath 
of wind, a scorching gust began to blow from the south, 
and the air became so oppressive that breathing was 
difficult. 

“ What’s this ?” he demanded of the chief guide, 
Abu ’Eysa, an Arab mulatto. 

The man’s only reply was to bury his head in his 
mantle and crouch forward over the neck of his camel, 
an example which the others were soon glad to follow. 
When the blast had subsided, Abu ’Eysa pointed to a 
small tent about a hundred yards away. 

“ If we cannot reach that,” he murmured, “ we 
perish. Take care that your camel does not lie down.” 

Another blast came, hotter and more violent than its 
forerunners; the horizon grew purple and then black, 
and the camels half stopped, bending their knees as if 
to lie down. With blows and kicks their riders urged 
them forward, while the terrified beasts rocked and 
swayed, till every moment Palgrave expected to find 
himself prostrate on the sand. 

“ On ! on !” groaned the guides. 

Choking and half blinded with dust and sodden 
with sweat, they drew near to the tent, sprang from 
their camels, and tumbled through the entry. 

“ Lie down !” commanded Abu ’Eysa, and everyone 
fell on his face, while a blistering wave of heat rolled 
328 


RIAD AND THE WAHABIS 


over their bodies as if a white-hot plate of iron were 
being drawn through the space above them. It passed ; 
the darkness began to lift, the tent canvas flapped 
gently in a cooler breeze, and the danger was over. 
But Palgrave never again scoffed at the idea of being 
frightened by a simoon. 

After many questionings and formalities he was 
allowed to enter the desert-girt city, which is fortifled 
by high ramparts said to have been constructed by the 
Egyptians. Biad was, and still is, the central strong¬ 
hold of a sect of Mohammedans known as the Wahabis, 
who during the flrst half of the last century were a 
power in the land, having their own Sultan, army, and 
laws. Their main characteristic is their hatred of 
Europeans and their horror of Christianity. 

Here the doctor was to have no lack of patients, for 
Abu ’Eysa made it his business to noise abroad his 
master’s skill, and brought back, as flrst-fruits of the 
new clientele, the royal treasurer. This gentleman was 
so satisfied that he introduced the new physician to 
the Sultan—a fat, blind, avaricious old reprobate— 
and his two sons, Sa’ood and Abd Allah. The latter, 
the heir-apparent, who had inherited all his father’s 
vices, soon showed himself arrogant and churlish 
towards the strangers. Still, he condescended to invite 
the doctor to the palace each morning to discuss 
medicine, and science generally, with him. 

It was an invitation that Palgrave durst not refuse, 
both from fear of offending, and also for the sake of 
the insight into Wahabi politics which accepting it 
would give him. So every morning he humbly listened 
329 


THE ARAB HORSE 


to the Prince—who, by the way, knew nothing whatever 
about medical science—never missing a chance of subtly 
inquiring into the mysteries of the Wahabi Consti¬ 
tution. This state of things endured for three weeks, 
and Abd Allah was beginning to wax amiable at having 
so promising a pupil. 

A favourite horse of the Prince’s having fallen ill, the 
new doctor was asked to examine and prescribe—a 
task which he welcomed as giving him the run of the 
royal stables and an opportunity for closer observation 
of the blood-stock. He describes the Arab horse as : 

“ Remarkably full in the haunches, with a shoulder 
of a slope so elegant as to make one ‘ go raving mad 
about it a little, a very little, saddle-backed, just the 
curve which indicates springiness without weakness ; 
a head broad above and tapering down to a fine nose ; 
a most intelligent and yet a singularly gentle look, 
full eye, sharp, thorn-like ear, the tail thrown out at 
a perfect arch, the mane not over-grown nor heavy— 
their appearance justified all reputation, all value, all 
poetry.” 

“ Pretty stories,” he adds somewhat drily, “ have 
been circulated about the familiarity existing between 
Arabs and their steeds—how the foal plays with the 
children of the house, eats and drinks with its master ; 
how he tends it when indisposed, whilst it no doubt 
returns him a similar service when occasion requires. 
That the Arab horse is much gentler and in a general 
way more intelligent than the close-stabled, blinkered, 
harnessed animal of merry England, I willingly admit. 
If, however, we come to the particular incidents of 
330 


A VISIT FROM THE MOB 


Arab horse-lif© just alluded to, they certainly form no 
general rule or etiquette in practice, nor would any 
Arab be the worse thought of for rapping his mar© over 
the nos© if she thrust it into his porridge. I do not 
mean to say that the creditable anecdotes immortalized 
in so many books may not perhaps take place here and 
there, but, to quote an Arab poet, ‘ I never saw the 
like nor ever heard.’ ” 

But while he had attained to something hke popu¬ 
larity in royal circles, among the ecclesiastics he was 
regarded with ever-increasing suspicion. If there were 
no other reasons for hostility his non-attendance at 
public worship gave offence; and on© night some dozens 
of zealots appeared outside his house armed with sticks 
and spears. Heedless of the entreaties of his friend 
and his servant, he went out and addressed the mob, 
and again, not for the last time, his life was saved by 
his boundless effrontery; for he argued with and jeered 
that crowd till, from very dread of his insolent and 
sarcastic tongue and bearing, it melted away. The 
Arabic idiom readily lends itself to invective, person¬ 
ality, and repartee. 

Another accident favourable to his occupation as 
spy was the fact that the Wahabis were just preparing 
for a war with their hereditary enemies, the people of 
Oneyzah, and he hoped to be able to take some notes 
that would be useful, and eventually to steal away 
from the town in the excitement and hurry of the 
departure of the troops. 

The Sultan’s second son Sa’ood, an amiable, good- 
hearted fellow, was convinced that the Syrian doctor 
331 


ABD ALLAH’S ENMITY 


was none other than a secret emissary from Egypt. 
Ambitious for himself, and well knowing that tyranny 
and general misery would be spread through the land 
when his brother should succeed to the throne, he had 
long been labouring to establish a faction that would 
support his own claims to the succession; and now 
expressed his hope to Palgrave that the Egyptians 
would listen to proposals for an alliance with him; at 
the same time sparing no pains to conciliate the 
supposed emissary. 

The latter fact soon aroused Abd Allah’s suspicions, 
rendering him all too ready to quarrel with the 
stranger, and Palgrave, with the knowledge ever before 
him that at any moment his disguise might be pene¬ 
trated, had need of all his wits and savoir jaire to keep 
himself out of the torture-chamber. 

Once the pretext for incivility was a sick horse, 
known to be incurable, which Abd Allah savagely 
ordered him to treat. With boyish good-humour the 
Englishman looked quietly on the angry Prince, and 
observed : 

“ Your Highness will please remember that here in 
your capital I am a doctor of asses, not horses.” 

Abd Allah was forced to receive the retort with a 
laugh, but he was no less determined on quarrelling. 

On the morning after this little scene Palgrave was 
sent for. Arrived at the palace he was greeted 
affectionately by Abd Allah, who told him that, as the 
State could not afford to lose so valuable a physician, 
he wished him to marry and settle down in a house 
which he would give him. This was a polity intimation 
332 


A PERILOUS INTERVIEW 


that the doctor was to consider himself a State 
prisoner for life. 

The Syrian ” expressed his sense of indebtedness, 
and suavely accepted the offer, at the same time 
regretting that urgent private affairs would call him 
to the next town for a few months. 

“ But,” he added, “ when I return from Hasa, and 
your Highness from the war, there will be plenty of 
time to seek a house and a wife for your servant.” 

Trying to dissemble his anger, the Prince begged that 
the doctor would at least leave him a supply of 
medicines before departing, particularly a drug whose 
swift action he had already witnessed—strychnine. 
And he looked under his brows in the direction of his 
brother, his hatred for whom was well known. There 
was no mistaking the malignity of the glance, and 
Palgrave, horror-stricken to the verge of impru¬ 
dence, flatly refused, and took advantage the next 
minute of the Prince’s being addressed by his chamber- 
lain to hurry from the presence and back to his 
lodging. 

Hastily warning his friend and Abu ’Eysa, he packed 
his belongings, and had begun to sketch out a plan of 
escape, when one of the Prince’s negroes came to the 
house, and with scant courtesy ordered him to proceed 
to the palace. 

He was at once ushered into Abd Allah’s presence. 
The Prince, evidently in a great rage, shouted : 

“ I know now who and what you are! You and 
your companion are no doctors !” 

The brave fellow’s heart beat irregularly, though 
333 


A PERILOUS INTERVIEW 

outwardly he was calm. Had discovery come at 
last ? 

“You are Christian spies and revolutionists!” 
thundered Abd Allah, “ come hither to ruin our religion 
and State. The punishment for such as you is death, 
and I shall inflict it without delay.” 

Palgrave looked round the apartment in search of a 
friendly glance. But Sa’ood was not there, and all 
other eyes were turned from him. Then, gazing 
steadily on Abd Allah, he said : 

“ Christians ? Yes. Have we ever denied it ? 
But spies ? Revolutionists ?” He laughed, half 
merrily, half insolently. “ We are known by everyone 
in the town for quiet doctors. You dare not put me 
to death.” 

“ I dare and will!” shouted the Prince. 

The Englishman continued : 

“ We are your father’s guests, and the friends of 
your brother. The obloquy of the deed would be too 
much for you.” 

Abd Allah laughed scornfully. 

“ As if anyone would know !” 

“ And is there no one here,” asked the Enghshman, 
looking round at the Prime Minister, who was known 
to be favourable to Sa’ood, “ who can report what you 
have just now said ? Do you take me for a child ?” 
Turning his back on the Prince, he proceeded: 
“ Bear witness, all present, that if any mishap befalls 
me or my companion between here and the Persian 
Gulf the consequences shall fall on Abd Allah’s 
head.” 


334 


ESCAPE 


Then, calling a slave, he demanded a cup of coffee. 

The Prince was bewildered and cowed. Contenting 
himself with talking significantly to the surrounding 
Ministers about spies “ in the pay of the people of 
Oneyzah,” he ignored Palgrave, who, chuckling at the 
idea of how near Abd Allah had gone to guessing his 
occupation, withdrew at the first opportunity. 

On the following evening, when all pious folk had 
flocked to the mosques for prayer, the two Englishmen 
stole from their lodging, and made for the gate of the 
city, dreading any moment to be stopped and arrested. 
But chance was favourable ; even the very watchmen 
at the gate had gone to prayers, and they escaped un¬ 
hindered. At some little distance from the city wall 
Abu ’Eysa awaited them with dromedaries and 
baggage. 

But their anxieties were not yet ended. Abu ’Eysa 
could not afford to be associated with the flight of the 
Christians, nor were they able to find the way to 
El Hofuf without him. It had been stipulated, there¬ 
fore, that the two Englishmen should go on to a spot 
in the desert indicated by the mulatto—a sandy hollow 
away from the main track, waterless, and hidden in 
brushwood, where they were to wait for him, he going 
back to Riad, showing himself freely in the city, and 
relying on making his escape with a merchant caravan 
that was to leave in three days’ time. 

The next couple of days seemed as though they never 
would pass. The prisoners sought to beguile the time 
with dodging and chasing small herds of gazelles, which 
were surprisingly tame and friendly. The third day 
335 


CAMEL OR DROMEDARY? 


wore slowly on, not without its moments of fright 
whenever pedestrians from the city came in sight, 
or when wandering bedawin came mp to gaze sus¬ 
piciously on the two strangers who were mad enough 
to encamp in a place where no water was. 

But, as dark came on, they heard the mulatto’s jovial 
laugh from the spot where the dromedaries were 
tethered, and soon all were comfortably regaHng 
themselves with coffee and tobacco preparatory to the 
night march, while Abu ’Eysa gave an amusing 
account of Abd Allah’s furious inquiries and search 
for the fugitives. 

The dromedaries now bore them swiftly over the 
moonlit plain, taking a very different pace from the 
awkward jog-trot of Kipling’s “ oonts.” Palgrave’s 
own remarks anent camels and dromedaries and 
European misconceptions thereon are worth quoting. 
He says : 

“ The popular home idea of a dromedary having 
two humps and a camel one, or vice versa (for I have 
forgotten which of the animals is supplied with a duph- 
cate boss in coloured picture-books), is a simple mistake. 
The camel and the dromedary in Arabia are the same 
identical genus and creature, excepting that the 
dromedary is a high-bred camel, and the camel a low¬ 
bred dromedary ; exactly the same distinction which 
exists between a racehorse and a hack—both are 
horses, but the one of blood, the other not. The 
dromedary is the racehorse of his species—thin, elegant 
(or comparatively so), fine-haired, light of step, easy 
of pace, and much more enduring of thirst than the 
336 


A DESERT FOG 


woolly, thick-built, heavy-footed, ungainly, and jolting 
camel. But both and each of them have only one 
hump, placed immediately behind their shoulders, 
where it serves as a fixing-point for the saddle or 
burden. For the two-humped beast, it exists, indeed, 
but it is neither an Arab dromedary nor camel; it 
belongs to the Persian breed, called by the Arabs 
‘ Bakhtee,’ or Bactrian. Perhaps there may be a 
specimen of it at the Zoological Gardens, and thither 
who chooses may go and have a look at it, only let him 
not profane the name of ‘ dromedary ’ by applying it 
to the clumsy, coarse-haired, upland, Persian beast 
before him.” 

Before midnight the air had grown so cold that the 
travellers were glad of their thickest wraps. The way 
now lay up a steady slope of three hundred feet on to 
a broad tableland. Here the men rested till daylight, 
or what should have been daylight; for, to Palgrave’s 
astonishment, at six o’clock the whole land was shrouded 
in dense white mist, belonging, as he says, “ more to 
Surrey than to Arabia,” and he could scarcely see a 
foot before him. Abu ’Eysa, however, urged his 
employers not to delay, and so they fared on over the 
broken ground, now shouting one to another, now 
finding the dromedaries charging into each other, till 
accident seemed inevitable. 

As the fog moved they saw a troop of soldiers coming 
towards them—Wahabis from Hasa on their way to 
Biad. Our traveller says of them : 

“ Like true Arabs they marched, with a noble con¬ 
tempt of order and discipline—^walking, galloping, 
337 Y 


THE DAHNA 


ambling, singing, shouting, alone or in bands, as fancy 
led.” 

Keeping as clear of this company as possible, lest 
they should be stopped or questioned, they made for a 
path up a hill, the descent on the other side of which 
brought them to a large natural basin of limestone ; at 
the bottom of this were half a dozen wells. Having 
filled their water-skins, the travellers moved on again, 
still descending, while the air grew heavier and hotter, 
becoming more and more what it really was—the 
breath of the “ Dahna.” 

At sunset Palgrave wished to stop, but the guide 
pointed out that every hour’s travel now was worth 
two or three after sunrise, so they rode on till daybreak. 
Then Palgrave looked about him, awestruck and per¬ 
haps a little fearful, at the appalling wilderness that 
stretched round him on every side. 

“ It was the great Dahna, or ‘ Red Desert,’ the 
bugbear of even the wandering bedawin, and never 
traversed by ordinary wayfarers without an appre¬ 
hension which has too often been justified by fatal 
incidents. So light are the sands, so capricious the 
breezes that shape and reshape them daily into un¬ 
stable hills and valleys, that no trace of preceding 
travellers remains to those who follow, while intense 
heat and glaring light refiected on all sides combine with 
drought and weariness to confuse and bewilder the 
adventurer, till he loses his compass, and wanders up 
and down at random amid a waste solitude that soon 
becomes his grave. Many have thus perished; even 
whole caravans have been known to disappear in the 
338 


LOCUSTS 


Dahna without a vestige, till the wild Arab tales of 
demons carrying off wanderers, or ghouls devouring 
them, obtain a half credit among many accustomed 
elsewhere to laugh at such fictions.” 

Before breaking camp they were overtaken by 
another caravan under the guidance of one El Ghan- 
nam, an acquaintance and jealous rival of Abu ’Eysa’s, 
and for greater safety the two parties joined forces. 
They had not proceeded far together when the white 
sand ahead was seen to be blotted with dark patches, 
whence issued a whizzing sound as of a flight of hornets. 
These patches the Arabs joyfully announced to be 
locusts. 

After sunset these insects become stupefied by the 
night chill, and are forced to lie on the ground till 
excited to life again by the next day’s sun, or by a 
passing file of dromedaries. In this case it was, the 
dromedaries, though it was difficult to say which 
were the more startled, for Palgrave states : “ Of all 
timid creatures, none can equal the ‘ ship of the desert ’ 
for cowardice.” 

The Arabian locust is brown in colour, and about 
the length and girth of a man’s little finger, resembling 
a good-sized prawn. Boiled or fried it is said by the 
natives to be delicious, but to the English palate it 
is oily and disgusting. 

“ The swarm before us,” says our traveller, “ was a 
thorough godsend for the Arabs, on no account to be 
neglected. Thirst, weariness, all was forgotten, and 
down the riders leapt from their starting camels. This 
one spread out a cloak, that one a saddle-bag, a third 
339 Y 2 


RIVALRY BETWEEN THE GUIDES 


his shirt, over the unlucky creatures destined for the 
morrow’s meal. Some flew away, whirring across our 
feet, others were caught and tied up in cloths and 
sacks. Cornish wreckers at work about a shattered 
East Indiaman would be beaten by El Ghannam and 
his companions with the locusts.” 

So engrossing was the hunt—or battue —that it was 
difficult to get the Arabs into marching order again. 

When once more fairly started, Palgrave noticed 
signs of impending strife between his mulatto and El 
Ghannam. Each in his way was a good guide ; each 
had, or thought he had, a thorough knowledge of the 
Dahna. Some two years before, in an access of phil¬ 
anthropy, Abu ’Eysa had taken several camel-loads of 
stones into the desert, and there had constructed a 
rough pyramid, thirty feet high, as a waymark to 
travellers. Not to be outdone, El Ghannam had created 
a similar pyramid some miles further on. All this was 
very well, but beyond El Ghannam’s monument was a 
vast unmarked tract which each guide pretended to 
know better than the other. 

By the following evening this debatable land was 
reached. Everyone was tired and hot and irritable, 
and the guides were soon at high words. As soon as 
it was dark the caravan lost its way, and was groping 
aimlessly in the gloom, men and beasts alike ready to 
drop with fatigue. El Ghannam knew a path to the 
left ; Abu ’Eysa hinted that El Ghannam’s word was 
not invariably worthy of belief, and swore by the 
Prophet that his way, to the right, was the correct one. 

Here was a predicament for Palgrave. All around 
340 


DISPUTE AMONG THE GUIDES 


for miles lay the sand gently billowing in the night- 
wind ; above were the stars—not little points of light 
as they appear in England, but standing out in relief 
against the deep violet of the sky, solid polygons and 
spheres of flame ; but whither lay El Hofuf ? 

Pressing between the disputants, who were now 
coming to blows, he endeavoured to pacify them. 
But Abu ’Eysa’s honour was at stake ; he had never 
lost the way yet. Ignoring his master’s interposition, 
he dramatically extended his arm southwards, and 
cried : 

“ I go that way ; let those who will follow me.” 

El Ghannam was about to repeat the formula in 
favour of his way, but it was now evident that the 
mulatto had won the confidence of the whole party, so 
it behoved him either to follow his rival’s lead or lose 
the balance of pay due to him. And, as another day’s 
journey brought them all safely and without further 
mischance to El Hofuf, we may presume that Abu 
’Eysa was the better guide of the two.* 

* The quotations in this chapter are from “ Travels in Arabia,” 
by W. G. Palgrave, 1865, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan. 


THE END 


BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD 





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